“Card, Please” — the Trend of the Cashless Store

Photo by Ryan Born on Unsplash

There’s a CVS in downtown Baltimore where I refuse to shop. Why?

They don’t take cash.

At all. Credit or debit cards only. The trend is growing. A burrito store in New York, Amazon bookstores, at least one Starbucks. Lots of clothing stores.

So, why is this a problem? If that’s your first thought, congratulations: You’re privileged.

Time to check (or maybe card) your privilege.

Photo by Webaroo on Unsplash

Who Doesn’t Have a Credit Card?

The answer many privileged people tend to go right to is “People who don’t trust themselves with one.” And that’s definitely a subset, but said people generally have a debit card, which these stores will also take.

The real answer?

Poor people.

As of March 9, 2019, no less than 25% of US households are either unbanked (no bank account at all) or underbanked (without access to things we consider basic banking services). In 2017, 8.4 million households in the US were considered completely unbanked, meaning nobody in the household had a bank account.