Cashless backlash: Why Philadelphia banned cashless businesses

Philadelphia is set to ban cashless businesses. But there was no huge outcry, so why did City Council make the bill a priority?

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Philadelphia resident Dwight Tindal works in demolition and does not have a bank account. (Kimberly Paynter/WHYY)

Philadelphia resident Dwight Tindal works in demolition and does not have a bank account. (Kimberly Paynter/WHYY)

Philadelphia City Council recently passed a ban on cashless businesses, saying that they discriminate against city residents who don’t have bank accounts. But Philadelphia didn’t have many cashless businesses in the first place, and advocates for the poor weren’t lobbying for the bill. So why did Councilman Bill Greenlee make the bill a priority? And is Philadelphia part of a nation-wide push against the cashless trend? WHYY reporter Aaron Moselle explains on this episode of The Why.

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