Recently, a long-time newsletter subscriber reached out to me asking if I had any experience with utilities going cashless. Her concern is that it takes her staff about half an hour each day to balance their cash drawers and make the bank deposit for just 8% of their customer base who pay using cash.
Why not accept cash?
In my experience, cash payments and voided cash payments are the most frequent source of fraud for utilities. Not accepting cash eliminates this temptation.
As the newsletter subscriber noted, balancing a cash drawer can be a time-consuming task.
If you use a check scanner to make Check21 deposits, doing away with cash payments means no more trips to the bank!
I’m not an attorney…
As I’ve stated before, I’m not an attorney, so please take this for what it’s worth. However, my research suggests that you are not obligated to accept cash payments.
According to the Federal Reserve’s FAQ website, unless a law in your state states otherwise, you are free to establish your own policy regarding the acceptance of cash. It does say “private businesses”, so if you are a public utility, I would definitely check with your attorney before going cashless.
I also found this Facebook post from the City of St. Cloud, Florida. As of January 1, the City no longer accepts cash payments.
Other non-utility businesses do it
As I’ve mentioned before, I’m a huge Carolina Hurricanes fan. If you attend a Canes home game at the Lenovo Center, you’ll need to bring a credit card, as the entire experience is cashless, from parking to concessions.
Likewise, I noticed a sign at my cardiologist’s office, which is affiliated with a major university here in Durham, stating that no cash is accepted.
What does it cost to accept cash payments?
If you’re interested in determining the cost of accepting cash payments, please use the Cashier Payment Calculator on my website. Similarly, you can use the Mail Payment Calculator to determine the cost of processing mail payments.
What are the alternatives?
If you don’t accept cash payments, what options do your customers without a bank account have? It’s less common than it used to be, but some banks still accept payments for the local utility.
Walmart and Dollar General also accept cash payments for many utilities. If you decide to go cashless, it might be worth checking to see if a local retailer accepts cash payments.
Are you considering it?
Is your utility considering going cashless? Or, have you already done so? Either way, please email me and let me know what went into your decision and how it’s been received by your customers.
2025 Utility Fee Survey
Response to the 2025 Utility Fee Survey continues to lag behind that of the 2023 Utility Fee Survey.
As an incentive to participate in the 2025 Utility Fee Survey, I will be drawing for a $50.00 Visa gift card from the responses received from now until the survey ends. (To be fair to those who have already completed the survey, I will also be drawing for another $50.00 Visa gift card from the responses already received.)
Have you completed the 2025 Utility Fee Survey yet? If you haven’t, will you please take a moment and do it now? You can complete the 2025 Utility Fee Survey by clicking here.
Are you processing payments efficiently?
Are you processing payments as efficiently as possible? If you’re unsure or are interested in finding out, please call me at 919-673-4050 or email me at gary@utilityinformationpipeline.com for more information about how a business review could help you find out.