Earlier this month, Philadelphia passed a bill rendering cashless stores, such as Amazon Go illegal and banned future establishments from also completely abandoning a cash payment option. Cities such as Washington D.C. and New York are also in the process of following suit as well. An October 2018 study from Pew Research Study showed that 70% of US adults used cash last year for at least some of their purchases during a typical week. Another survey by Cardtronics said that 90% of adults view cash as essential to those without checking or savings. While Philadelphia’s ban emphasizes the importance of cash transactions, it is unlikely that this will negatively impact consumer adaption of payment technologies. This year, it is estimated that 27.4% of smartphone users in the US will use a mobile phone to make a payment at the physical point of sale.
The key take away here is that despite advances in mobile payment options, cash transactions are not going anywhere at least in the near future. Businesses just want to make the consumer experience as frictionless as possible – which means more than having the most advanced payment option, diversifying payment options, whether in accepting card, cash, or mobile is more important.
This is important to note for Jack in the Box since the majority of transaction at restaurant locations are all cash based, and will probably continue to be cash based for the foreseeable future. However, by including different forms of mobile payment systems shows inclusivity and convenient solutions for those who don’t always travel with their wallets or cash.
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