Pandemic Impact! Starbucks Accelerates Expansion of Cash-Free Stores

Starbucks Goes Cashless in the UK

A British netizen posted a notice from a local Starbucks on social media announcing that the store would no longer accept cash. The notice specified that starting from October 1, 2022, the store would accept only card payments, contactless payments, or Starbucks Rewards payments, suggesting that more and more Starbucks locations are dropping cash support. The announcement caused considerable dissatisfaction among local netizens.

According to a report by the British media outlet Telegraph & Argus, similar notices appeared outside a Starbucks store in Bradford, UK. As voices questioning the practice grew louder on social media, cashless payment appeared to be becoming a trend across Starbucks stores nationwide in the UK. The outlet said it had contacted Starbucks officials for comment and was awaiting an official response.

Mixed Reactions from Customers

Some netizens commented that they had not used cash in a long time, so Starbucks' policy of not accepting cash had not affected them much. In fact, they find electronic payments more convenient and secure.

Others, however, voiced opposition to Starbucks not accepting cash and said they would no longer patronize any Starbucks store.

Not a New Initiative

Some netizens pointed out that Starbucks dropping cash was nothing new, as it had been mentioned back in 2020 by then-CEO Kevin Johnson.

As early as December 2017, Howard Schultz said in an interview with CNBC that Starbucks might one day become a cashless coffee chain.

In April 2018, Starbucks piloted a cashless model in three stores in South Korea, which proved successful. The cashless operation model was then rolled out on a large scale across all Starbucks stores nationwide in South Korea from July 16.

On July 30, 2020, the "Office Coffee Shop" opened by Starbucks Japan became the first Starbucks store in Japan to be "cash-free, all-electronic payment."

In 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic swept the globe, then-CEO Kevin Johnson said Starbucks was planning to expand cashless payment options to protect customers and employees from coronavirus infection, predicting that mobile payments would become the primary payment method.

Legal Considerations

Stores refusing to accept cash, however, is quite controversial. Some netizens asked whether it is not illegal for a business to refuse national legal tender.

A British netizen clarified that it is not illegal for businesses to refuse cash payments.

Legal regulations differ between countries, though. In August 2020, a Douyin blogger brought 9.9 jin (approximately 4.95 kg) of coins to a Starbucks for consumption, but the staff responded that they could not accept coins because they were inconvenient to store. The incident sparked heated discussion online.

According to the relevant provisions of the "Law of the People's Bank of China," Renminbi (RMB) is the legal tender of the People's Republic of China. RMB shall be used to pay all public and private debts within the territory of the People's Republic of China, and no unit or individual may refuse to accept it. On that basis, businesses refusing cash is illegal.

Starbucks China responded to the incident of refusing coins: there is no regulation refusing to accept coins, and this has been reiterated to all stores. We apologize for the poor experience of individual customers.

Currently there is no indication that Starbucks stores in China will follow this practice, since refusing cash is clearly not legal in the country.

Additional Information

Image source: Internet

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