Require retail merchants to give customers the option to pay cash
Legislative Analysis Report Require retail merchants to give customers the option to pay cash
1. Primary Purpose of the Bill
This bill requires in-person retail businesses in Ohio to accept cash as a form of payment. It aims to protect consumers who prefer or need to use cash by preventing stores from going completely cashless, while providing specific exceptions for certain venues, parking lots, and businesses that use fee-free cash-to-card kiosks.
Consumer ProtectionCommerceBusiness
2. Changes to Existing Law
ORC Sec. 1333.97 Enacts a new section requiring in-person retail merchants to accept cash, making a refusal to accept cash an unfair or deceptive consumer practice, and establishing exemptions for certain parking facilities, large venues, airports, car rentals, and businesses with fee-free cash-to-card conversion kiosks.
3. Key Information for Citizens
🗳️ What You Need to Know
- In-person retail stores in Ohio must accept cash and cannot force you to pay only with credit cards.
- The cash requirement does not apply to online, telephone, or mail-order purchases.
- Certain places are exempt from this rule, including sports and entertainment venues with 10,000 or more seats, some parking lots, and car rental companies.
- Stores can still be cashless if they provide a kiosk that converts cash to a prepaid card for free, with no usage fees and a minimum deposit of 5 dollars or less.
- If a store illegally refuses your cash, you can sue them, and the Ohio Attorney General can take enforcement action against them.
4. Entities Affected
- In-person retail businesses and merchants
- Ohio consumers and shoppers
- The Ohio Attorney General's Office
- Large sports and entertainment venues
- Parking facilities and car rental companies
5. Regulatory Impact & Enforcement
Agency Authority: The Ohio Attorney General is granted authority to enforce these cash-payment requirements using existing consumer protection powers.
Penalties & Mandates: Retailers are mandated to accept cash for in-person transactions. Violating this requirement is classified as an unfair or deceptive consumer practice, which allows injured consumers to sue for civil relief and authorizes the Ohio Attorney General to bring enforcement actions and penalties against the business.
Implementation Timeline: Not applicable
6. Estimated Fiscal Impact
State Revenue Impact
Not applicable
Local Government Impact
Not applicable
Implementation Costs
Not applicable
Net Annual Fiscal Effect
Not applicable
Policy doesn’t happen in a vacuum. Meet the representatives and senators who introduced this bill and are pushing it through the chamber. Click on any sponsor to see their district, party affiliation, and what other legislation they’ve championed this session.
Primary Sponsors
Louis W. Blessing, III
District
8
Chamber
Senate
Party
Republican
Catherine D. Ingram
District
9
Chamber
Senate
Party
Democrat
Co-Sponsors
Related Topics
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Transportation
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Business & Commerce
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Local Government
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Technology & Cybersecurity
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Status Changes
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Referred to committee
Jan 29 2025
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Documents
Access the primary source. This section hosts the full, unedited text of the legislation alongside every official document produced during its journey. From the initial draft to the final enrolled version, you can review the exact language being proposed for state law.
