In response to retailers and digital payment providers exploiting unfounded fears among the population about using cash during Covid-19, thereby promoting their own business, two U.S. Senators have proposed a bill that could forbid merchants to ban cash transactions during the pandemic period.
Pre-Coronavirus, New York City, San Francisco, Philadelphia and Massachusetts had already passed corresponding legislation on a state level.
Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey and Kevin Cramer of North Dakota submitted the bipartisan bill, known as The Payment Choice Act. Retailers that operate a contactless-only service or charge a fee for cash transactions during Covid-19 would be fined up to $2,500 for their first offence and $5,000 for a second.
