Researchers say cashless policies, which are picking up pace in the US, disadvantage many groups, including low-income peoples, the homeless, and older adults
Paula Span / New York Times : X: @paula_span and @jeanette_leardi X: Paula Span / @paula_span : I wrote about the move to a cash-free America and the disadvantages to several groups, including elders. Now, 300 folks are weighing in with comments, pro and con. https://www.nytimes.com/... Jeanette Leardi / @jeanette_leardi : “Plenty of older adults are adept at mobile apps or comfortable with credit cards, but still want the cash option preserved.” Count me among them. I'm 72, tech savvy, have debit and credit cards, and use a computer and a smart phone....1/2 https://www.nytimes.com/...
Context & Ripple Effects
The article extends a long-running cashless-payments debate: earlier coverage described an industry push led by major payment platforms that could leave people without bank accounts behind, while another account examined the corporate choke points that can make digital payments easier to monitor or restrict.
The access problem has also become visible in services for people experiencing homelessness, where groups adapted as spare change gave way to payment apps. This research puts older adults and low-income people alongside that previously documented shift in how unhoused people receive donations.
First-order effects
- Businesses and public-facing services that stop accepting cash can immediately exclude people who lack suitable cards, apps, bank access, or confidence using digital payment tools.
- Low-income people, unhoused people, and some older adults bear the practical burden of finding alternative ways to pay, rather than simply choosing a preferred checkout method.
Second-order effects
- Merchants and payment providers face sharper pressure to preserve a cash option or provide accessible alternatives, because a cashless policy shifts service access onto customers with the fewest payment choices.
- The findings reinforce concerns already associated with the push toward cashless payments: transaction convenience can expand digital-payment reach while narrowing participation for people outside the formal financial system.
Third-order effects
- If cash acceptance continues to recede, payment access becomes more dependent on privately operated accounts, devices, and platform rules—not just on having money to spend.
- That concentration also strengthens the relevance of earlier warnings about financial surveillance and censorship through payment intermediaries, though the extent of any policy response remains uncertain.
The trend: The broader trend is the conversion of everyday commerce into app- and account-mediated payments, with inclusion and autonomy becoming central tests of the transition.