Can Washington stores refuse to take cash? What state, local laws say

More Americans are going “cashless” these days, meaning they’re ditching dollars and coins in favor of other payment options.

A Pew Research Center survey from 2022 found 41% of adults don’t use cash for any of their purchases during a typical week.

For some businesses, that’s ideal – for convenience, because they’d rather not have money lying around, or for other reasons.

But, can a business refuse to accept cash altogether, even as customer payment preferences shift?

Here’s a look at what the law says federally and in Washington state:

Is there a federal law requiring businesses to accept cash?

Federal law doesn’t require businesses to accept cash.

U.S. coins and paper money are “valid and legal” tender, but there’s “no federal statute mandating that a private business, a person, or an organization must accept currency or coins as payment for goods or services,” according to the Federal Reserve System.

Instead, “private businesses are free to develop their own policies on whether to accept cash unless there is a state law that says otherwise,” the Federal Reserve System said.

Some states do have laws in place, from Colorado to New Jersey.

Can stores refuse to take cash under Washington law?

In Washington, there’s no state law mandating that businesses have to accept cash.

However, some local governments have passed laws making that the case in their areas.

The King and Snohomish county councils, for example, both passed cash measures in 2023.

The rules apply in unincorporated parts of those counties.

In both counties, leaders said they were looking out for residents without bank accounts, credit cards and the like.

“As we continue to advance technologically as a society, we need to take care not to leave behind those who are on the margins and may not have access to certain resources like banking and electronic services,” Snohomish County Councilman Jared Mead said in a news release at the time.

Thurston County doesn’t have a similar law in place.

How many U.S. households are ‘unbanked’.?

While most households in the U.S. have financial services access, about 4.2% – or about 5.6 million households – were considered “unbanked” in 2023, according to a survey by the FDIC. That means no one in the home had a savings or checking account at a credit union or bank.

The most cited reason for being unbanked was not having enough money for the minimum balance requirement, the FDIC said.

Is the law going to change?

Two lawmakers are pushing “to preserve payment choice” federally. U.S. Sens. Kevin Cramer, R-North Dakota, and John Fetterman, D-Pennsylvania, have introduced a bill to ensure shoppers can pay with cash and won’t be charged more for doing so.

“Americans should have the option of using cards or cash, but they should be the ones who make that choice,” Cramer said in a July news release about the legislation. Likewise, Fetterman said, “It’s simple: if you’re open for business in America, you should take U.S. dollars.”