By Aaron Allen, The Seattle Medium
On Tuesday, the King County Council, by a vote of 5-4, passed legislation that would require retail businesses in unincorporated King County to accept cash for many transactions.
The proposal, sponsored by Councilmember Jeanne Kohl-Welles, aims to ensure that all community members can participate in the county’s economy, regardless of their banking status. Data from the Pew Research Center shows that the largest shares of people who still use cash for most purchases are people of color and those with the lowest incomes.
“I think we are moving very fast towards a cashless society, and I am not trying to stop that from happening. I do not have the power to do that, of course, but there are states and local jurisdictions that have been enacting policies to prohibit cashless-only transactions for people,” says Kohl-Welles.
“I am concerned about those who get left behind and the effects on them. I think every person in this county should be able to participate in the economy,” she continues. “They should be able to purchase food and other essential items, and many people do not have the ability or desire to use bank cards,” Kohl-Welles adds.
Councilmember Girmay Zahilay firmly believes that this legislation is essential for citizens who may not be in a position to utilize the banking system.
“I think it is an important way to have everyone having the ability to engage in our economy,” says Zahilay. “It’s a way to make sure people who are unbanked, don’t have access to debit or credit cards and other electronic forms of payment, don’t have an Apple phone with Apple Pay, are still able to buy food and buy their necessities and get their basic needs met.”
According to the Pew Research Center, approximately 41% of U.S. adults said they don’t pay for any of their purchases in a typical week with cash, a significant increase from the 29% and 24% who said the same in 2018 and 2015, respectively.
While cash use has declined overall in recent years, factors such as income, race and ethnicity, and age play a role in cash use. Three in 10 U.S. adults with an annual household income of $30,000 or less said they use cash for all or almost all of their purchases in a typical week. But only 4% of respondents with an annual household income of $100,000 or more reported the same.
About one-quarter of Black adults (26%) and 21% of Hispanic adults said they used cash for all or almost all of their purchases in a typical week. Only 12% of white adults reported the same.
Forty-five percent of adults under 50 said they try to always have cash on hand, compared with 71% of adults aged 50 and up.
Kohl-Welles says that these statistics confirm that a considerable number of people are not in a position to obtain bank cards due to being unbanked, underbanked, or choosing not to use bank cards for privacy reasons. According to data from the FDIC, around 7,000 people are likely unbanked in unincorporated King County, and over 42,000 people are unlikely underbanked.
While many believe that this legislation is much needed, there are also detractors and business owners who believe that having cash in their establishments these days is very risky.
“I’m also concerned about retail organizations that have their own issues with security and theft, and certainly, I understand it,” says Kohl-Welles. “What we have in the legislation are exemptions for retail businesses. We’ve narrowed the scope of what constitutes a transaction that can be all bank cards. For example, for a business that is all mail or all on the internet or over the phone, they do not have to comply with this. For those businesses that are automated kiosks or those requiring rental deposits, those can be exempt. We have also limited the size of the transactions so that businesses don’t have to accept bills greater than twenty dollars and nothing dealing with transactions over $200.00.”
“There are, of course, other considerations on the other side, like in all policies, and we have to be thoughtful of that,” says Zahilay. “We heard from businesses that say carrying cash in their buildings can introduce risk for them, risk of theft and other things that they are trying to avoid. So, making sure that we give people enough time to comply, making sure that we hear from the business communities, and making sure that our legislation is nuanced is really important.”
“I think it’s important that we not exclude people,” adds Zahilay. “We cannot afford to exclude portions of our demographics from our economy, and requiring people to accept cash is a way to include everyone.”
Councilmembers Rod Dembowski, Jeanne Kohl-Welles, Girmay Zahilay, Peter von Reichbauer, and Dave Upthegrove voted in favor of the legislation. Councilmember Joe McDermott, who originally voted in favor of the legislation, voted along with councilmembers Claudia Balducci, Reagan Dunn and Sarah Perry in voting against the legislation.
