Sponsors (25)
The bill preserves in-person cash access and consumer protections—helping low-income, unbanked, and cash-reliant customers—while imposing new compliance obligations, potential costs and penalties for businesses, short-term denomination limits, and some regulatory uncertainty after five years.
Low-income, unbanked individuals, seniors, and other cash-reliant consumers keep the ability to make in-person purchases with cash (retailers must accept cash up to $500), preventing exclusion from brick-and-mortar transactions.
Consumers who pay with cash are protected from paying higher prices via cash surcharges.
Users of on‑premises cash-to-prepaid-card devices (often low-income or unbanked customers) get consumer protections: no device fees, a minimal (max $1) deposit cap, limits on card fees/expirations, privacy protections, and inactivity fees only after 12 months if disclosed.
Small businesses face new compliance requirements, potential penalties (up to $1,500) and litigation risk for alleged violations, which could increase operating costs or be passed to consumers via higher prices.
Allowing on‑premises cash-to-prepaid conversion may push unbanked consumers onto prepaid products that can still carry inactivity fees or other costs after 12 months, reducing long-term affordability.
For five years businesses may lawfully refuse $50+ bills, inconveniencing customers who hold large-denomination cash and complicating some transactions.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Requires most in-person retail sellers to accept cash for transactions up to $500 and bans surcharging cash customers, with limited exceptions and enforcement remedies.
Official title: To ensure that United States currency is treated as legal tender to be accepted as payment for purchases of goods and services at brick-and-mortar businesses throughout the United States, and for other purposes.
Introduced February 7, 2025 by John Rose · Last progress February 7, 2025
Requires most brick-and-mortar retailers to accept cash for in-person purchases up to $500 and prohibits charging extra fees to customers who pay with cash, with limited exceptions and consumer-protection rules for on‑site cash-to-prepaid conversions. Establishes a short private right of action with notice-and-cure procedures and damages remedies, directs Treasury to set denomination acceptance rules after five years, and expresses the nonbinding view that cash should remain legal tender nationwide.