Detroit Evening Report: Detroit City Council passes ordinance requiring businesses to accept cash
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Detroit City Council passed a new rule Tuesday requiring most brick-and-mortar stores and restaurants to accept paper money. Violators could face misdemeanor charges with fines of up to $500.
City Councilmember Angela Whitfield-Calloway, who drafted the ordinance, says the law will protect financially insecure Detroiters.
“Some don’t even want a bank account. Some can’t afford a bank account,” says Whitfield-Calloway. “Then you have the homeless population, immigration population, you have the youth. And then you have senior citizens who don’t have bank accounts.”
According to a study published by the University of Michigan in 2020, one in four Detroiters do not use banks. The city’s ban on cashless businesses will take effect this September.
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WDET reporter Eli Newman contributed to this story. Do you have a community story we should tell? Let us know in an email at detroiteveningreport@wdet.org.
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