[ghettoCoder]

Business are legally required to accept cash. I pay cash all the time at gas stations or for small amounts (< $20).

Covid adds a bit of friction to this but I have yet to be refused a transaction because of a cash payment.

[curryst]

> Business are legally required to accept cash.

If you're in the US, this isn't true. Businesses are only required to accept cash for debts, i.e. where you pay after services are rendered. That's why dollar bills specifically say "This note is legal tender for all debts, public and private."

The gas station can refuse your cash payment for a candy bar because there's no "debt" yet. A restaurant can't refuse to take cash unless they make you pay before they bring you food.

It's not common to do, especially since cash is so easy and cheap to handle, but it is legal.

> Covid adds a bit of friction to this but I have yet to be refused a transaction because of a cash payment.

Earlier in the pandemic, most places near me had signs up that they weren't taking cash because of COVID.

[jjgreen]

That depends on where you are. In the UK, while any debt can be paid in cash by law, there is no requirement for a business to refuse to accept cash for a purchase. There are some places that don't accept cash, some coffee shops, most cinemas: I guess that's more because they expect their staff to pilfer. Personally, I just don't use those places.

[HPsquared]

For anyone interested, that's the definition of legal tender: something which must be accepted as a payment method if offered for repayment of a debt.