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As someone not in $BIG_TECH_CITY is this something folks are seeing elsewhere or this just another one of those problems only "coastal elites" have? Since I not

As someone not in $BIG_TECH_CITY is this something folks are seeing elsewhere or this just another one of those problems only "coastal elites" have? Since I not only use cash for all purchases, but actively refuse to use a card this is a concerning trend.

evgen 9y ago
I have only seen it in major cities for now, but the trend will accelerate for all of the reasons given in the article. With chains like McDonalds replacing a large portion of the cashiers with automated ordering kiosks the next big push will be in marginalizing cash purchases and increasing the inconvenience (e.g. ten kiosks available or you can wait in a line five deep to order and pay with cash), but within a decade I can see the option for cash purchases being the exception and not the rule. It will happen much like the ongoing transition to the expectation that you will be carrying some sort of mobile device.
- geggam 9y ago
  Once it hits the economic repressed areas, where the majority of folks don't have debit cards or bank accounts this will run into an issue. There is a very large and growing set of folks in this nation who use cash and barter only.
skywhopper 9y ago
I suspect at least some businesses everywhere in the US will move to this model in the next few years. Handling cash is a big logistical risk, and the only question is how many cash-only customers can you afford to turn away? And from my own non-coastal non-big-city observations, cash-only customers are fewer and fewer, and largely of demographics that some businesses (but not all) would be perfectly happy to have a reason to refuse service. But cash won't go away anytime soon. You just might have to skip dining at the latest fast-casual chain or indie coffeeshop to come to your town.
geofft 9y ago
As a coastal elite (NYC), this is primarily a problem you'd see in famcy new gentrifying places. (Off the top of my head I can think of a salad place near Wall Street and a craft espresso place in the overpriced food court of a brand new mall in Brooklyn.) Your average bodega still has a $5 or $10 credit card minimum, and street food vendors, the bagel place I went to yesterday, etc. continue to be cash-only.

evgen 9y ago

I have only seen it in major cities for now, but the trend will accelerate for all of the reasons given in the article. With chains like McDonalds replacing a large portion of the cashiers with automated ordering kiosks the next big push will be in marginalizing cash purchases and increasing the inconvenience (e.g. ten kiosks available or you can wait in a line five deep to order and pay with cash), but within a decade I can see the option for cash purchases being the exception and not the rule. It will happen much like the ongoing transition to the expectation that you will be carrying some sort of mobile device.

geggam 9y ago
Once it hits the economic repressed areas, where the majority of folks don't have debit cards or bank accounts this will run into an issue. There is a very large and growing set of folks in this nation who use cash and barter only.

skywhopper 9y ago

I suspect at least some businesses everywhere in the US will move to this model in the next few years. Handling cash is a big logistical risk, and the only question is how many cash-only customers can you afford to turn away? And from my own non-coastal non-big-city observations, cash-only customers are fewer and fewer, and largely of demographics that some businesses (but not all) would be perfectly happy to have a reason to refuse service. But cash won't go away anytime soon. You just might have to skip dining at the latest fast-casual chain or indie coffeeshop to come to your town.

geofft 9y ago

As a coastal elite (NYC), this is primarily a problem you'd see in famcy new gentrifying places. (Off the top of my head I can think of a salad place near Wall Street and a craft espresso place in the overpriced food court of a brand new mall in Brooklyn.) Your average bodega still has a $5 or $10 credit card minimum, and street food vendors, the bagel place I went to yesterday, etc. continue to be cash-only.