(Verity Snaps Photography/Shutterstock.com) About a dozen owners of small stores and restaurants told Evanston city officials that an ordinance forcing them to take cash in their businesses would not only be extremely expensive, but would also make their employees and customers less safe. The measure, proposed by Ald. Devon Reid (8th), was the topic of a Zoom session with merchants and the city’s economic development team on Thursday. Reid said the ordinance is needed because there are several thousand “unbanked” people in Evanston, who, for a variety of reasons, do not have bank accounts, debit cards, or credit cards. The alder said the unbanked are disproportionately minorities, and said his must-take-cash plan is a way of “keeping American currency as something folks can use in our city.” However, the business owners said it should be up to small merchants whether to accept cash, or require debit/credit card payment only. Julie Matthei, of Hewn Bakery, said her business stopped taking cash during the height of the COVID pandemic, as a health and safety measure, and has kept that policy because it is safer and more efficient. If taking cash was mandated, Matthei said it would cost $20,000 in labor costs […]
K&X Design and Investment Technology, LLC
Invest The Invisible Impact
K&X Design and Investment Technology, LLC
Invest The Invisible Impact
