Could my next book be The Art of Mobile Insistence?
While short of a trend, it’s noteworthy that an increasing number of businesses are refusing to accept cash. As reported in the New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/25/nyregion/no-cash-money-cashless-credit-debit-card.html, payments are only accepted via app or credit card.
This policy won’t get noticed by the many who haven’t paid for anything with dollars and cents for years.
But others, as the Times said, are displeased.
“Every day I have an argument with somebody about it,” said a cashier at the Dos Toros on 40th Street in Manhattan.
The volume of mobile payments in the restaurant industry grew 75 percent in 2017, according to Fodor. http://www.nrn.com/operations/restaurant-mobile-payments-hit-tipping-point-2017. “As much as 10 percent of all fast-food sales may be made via mobile in just a few years.”
A cashless policy affects the so-called unbanked, those who do not have a bank account or credit card. That number in the U.S. has been estimated at 7 percent.
I’ve long said that choice is the killer app. Businesses that eschew that path risk losing customers and good will.
