D.C.'s cashless business ban is happening, with some exceptions

Catch up quick: Banning cashless D.C. businesses is years in the making. Efforts started in 2016 when salad giant Sweetgreen went cashless, citing a decline in paper payments and the costs of processing them.

• It didn't last long. In 2019, Sweetgreen reversed the policy after facing backlash that it was discriminatory against people without bank accounts or credit cards — a demographic dominated by the elderly, the low-income and people of color.

Then, the D.C. Council passed legislation in 2020 prohibiting retailers from discriminating against cash payments, but funding from the city to enforce it didn't kick in until the new fiscal year.

• With the COVID-19 public health emergency and extensions, the law was unenforceable through 2022.
• It briefly took effect in 2023 but was paused this year in a sweeping public safety bill passed in March.

The latest: The pause on cash requirements is set to lift come January, and it's happening this time. (A proposal to extend the delay to 2026 already failed in the D.C. Council.)

• This month, legislators passed a temporary emergency measure that exempts certain types of business, including those that have on-premise consumption alcohol licenses (for example, restaurants, bars, nightclubs) and others that are open late. It's in effect for 90 days.

Driving the news: The council will vote Tuesday on whether to amend the emergency legislation to potentially include more businesses.

• And Councilmember Christina Henderson, who's behind the emergency measure, plans to reintroduce a permanent bill with the same exemptions next legislative session.

The big picture: According to a new report from the Restaurant Association Metropolitan Washington (RAMW), the majority of businesses that have gone cashless are concerned about safety or are victims of crime.

• In the survey of nearly 130 restaurants, a 10% share that reported going cashless had all been robbed or burglarized and said carrying cash increases the risk of robbery.

Yes, but: Most businesses take cash, despite not yet being legally required to do so.

• In the RAMW's survey, 90% of businesses said they accept cash at some locations, while the association estimates the citywide number is closer to 98%.

Between the lines: RAMW reps and business owners left out of the emergency legislation tell Axios they hope the council will expand the cashless exemption categories or adopt a measure where businesses can apply for exemptions, similar to the way a cigar lounge can apply for an exemption to the indoor smoking ban.

What they're saying: "Just because you're a business that doesn't serve alcohol doesn't mean you don't have safety problems," Prescription Chicken owner Valerie Zweig tells Axios.

• Her Shaw soup business, which she says is 95% delivery, went cashless because of theft and increased crime in the neighborhood.
• "As a small business, we want to make sales. We're not trying to not sell things. We're just trying to be safe."

The intrigue: Even as cash requirements go into effect Jan. 1, enforcement remains uncertain. Government authorities can fine businesses more than $1,000 for refusing cash, and more than $9,000 after a fourth offense.

• Councilmember Henderson tells Axios that businesses will likely be flagged if a customer complains but that authorities won't be "secret shoppers."
• "If we're thinking about it from a hierarchy of importance, cashless versus someone selling to underage individuals, frankly, the enforcement agents are focused on other priorities," Henderson tells Axios.