Los Angeles Inches Closer to Banning Cashless Retail Businesses

The move would put Los Angeles on track for adopting a similar measure that San Francisco adopted in 2019, which banned nearly all cashless retail shops.

A customer counts his cash at the register while purchasing an item at a Best Buy store in Flushing, New York, on March 27, 2010. Jessica Rinaldi/Reuters

Los Angeles has just moved one step closer to banning cashless retail businesses, with the LA City Council on Tuesday ordering staff to prepare a policy proposal that would ensure cash can always be used to buy in-person goods and services in what would be a blow to the push for a cashless society.

At a regular meeting of the LA City Council on Oct. 3, members considered a motion (pdf) put forward in August by Councilwoman Heather Hutt, who wants to prevent people in Los Angeles from being forced to go cashless.