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The Spoon

Daily news and analysis about the food tech revolution

cashless retail

San Francisco Vote Bans Cashless Retail (Good Thing Amazon Go Now Accepts Cash)

San Francisco is the latest local government to put the kibosh on cashless retail operations. As the San Francisco Examiner wrote, yesterday the city’s Board of Supervisors unanimously approved legislation to ban cashless businesses, which will go into effect 90 days after its final approval.

The move follows similar legislation passed recently by both New Jersey and Philadelphia (and currently being contemplated by New York), all of which aim to help reduce income inequality and protect the rights of the non-banked and underbanked who don’t have access to a credit card. While businesses have argued that going cashless is more accurate, secure and efficient for consumers, ultimately, regulators see it as discriminatory.

There are some exceptions to San Francisco’s new law. As the AP reports: “Temporary pop-up stores and internet-only businesses such as ride-hailing companies would be exempt, as would food trucks, which say they lack the resources to handle cash.”

San Francisco had initially exempted Amazon Go from the ban, but then changed its mind in March. The city’s new rule also comes just days after Amazon launched its first cash-accepting Amazon Go store, which is also the first Go store in New York. The new location features a dedicated entrance for cash payers and a counter in the middle of the store where a person with a handheld scanner rings up shoppers and accepts payment. Amazon hasn’t indicated when it will add cash payments to its other stores, but the company basically has three months to get its three SF locations compliant with the new law.

There are actually a number of startups looking to retrofit existing supermarkets with Amazon Go-like cashierless checkout. But as these new cash-requiring rules pop up around the country, it will be table stakes for any such startup to tie in with a retailer’s POS system to enable both grab-and-go checkout as well as traditional payment checkout.

All_EBT Allows Those Underbanked to Participate in (Some) Cashless Retail

The number of Amazon Go stores are set to explode over the coming years, and while the grab-and-go convenience stores are a marvel of modern technology, they also raise thorny ethical issues surrounding cashless retail. You can only use Amazon Go if you have an Amazon account, and to get an Amazon account you need a credit or debit card — something lower-income populations may not have access to.

New York City councilmember Ritchie J. Torres is so concerned about the rise of these automated retail environments that he introduced legislation last month requiring restaurants and stores to accept cash or pay a fine. In an interview with Grub Street, Torres said: “On the surface, cashlessness seems benign, but when you reflect on it, the insidious racism that underlies a cashless business model becomes clear.” He continued “If you’re intent on a cashless business model, it will have the effect of excluding lower-income communities of color from what should be an open and free market.”

But there is a startup working on a way for lower-income and underbanked people to participate in the cashless revolution. All_ebt uses a combination of Facebook Messenger and virtual Visa cards to allow those on SNAP assistance (food stamps) to shop for USDA-approved groceries online. I confirmed with All_ebt Co-Founder, Eli Calderón Morin, that by extension, All_ebt users can also shop at cashless stores like Amazon Go. In an email to me, Morin wrote:

Yes the All_ebt card in our controlled environment and under the existing USDA restrictions does allow people to shop in store at place like Amazon Go in addition to other retailers like Costco, and Walmart.

The two options available for users are:

  1. adding your All_ebt virtual card to your Apple Pay and or Google Pay
  2. users can request a physical card and use anywhere Visa transactions are accepted

All_ebt has it’s own physical retail locations (which are primarily to help people sign up for the service) and even has ambitions to build it’s own Amazon Go-like experience — but that is still a ways off.

All_ebt can’t solve all of the issues associated with the cashless movement. There are still issues surrounding access to restaurants and coffee shops that abandon greenbacks, as those may not be applicable for SNAP purchases. But for now All_ebt is providing a way for more people to participate in the cashless grocery retail revolution as Amazon Go and more competitors expand into more markets next year.