Congress mandates cash acceptance at retail, protecting unbanked consumers.

What it does

This bill requires brick-and-mortar retail businesses that accept in-person payments to accept U.S. cash for transactions up to $500 and prohibits charging cash customers higher prices than non-cash customers. It creates a private right of action allowing customers to sue for violations, with damages starting at $250 and civil penalties up to $1,500. For 5 years, businesses may refuse large bills ($50+); after that, the Treasury Secretary must issue rules requiring acceptance of $1–$20 bills.

Why we flagged it

The bill's core mechanism is a mandate requiring retailers to accept cash and a private enforcement right for consumers. It is fundamentally a consumer protection measure addressing financial inclusion and payment choice, not a deregulation or industry carve-out.

What the text implies

• The $500 per-transaction cap may not cover large purchases (vehicles, appliances, real estate), limiting cash utility for high-value transactions and potentially pushing consumers toward digital payment even for smaller items.
• The 45-day cure period and requirement that customers first notify the business before suing creates a procedural barrier that may discourage enforcement by individual customers, especially those without legal resources.
• The Treasury Secretary's rulemaking authority in subsection (d)(2) could narrow the bill's scope after 5 years; if the Secretary declines to require acceptance of larger bills, the mandate effectively remains capped at $20.
• Prepaid card conversion devices (subsection (b)(2)) may become a de facto workaround: retailers could install fee-free converters and claim they are offering cash acceptance while steering customers toward digital alternatives.

Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.

Who it affects

Ordinary citizens gain a statutory right to use cash and a private cause of action to enforce it, addressing a real trend toward cashless retail that can exclude unbanked and underbanked populations. The bill does impose compliance costs on retailers, but those are secondary to the public benefit of preserving cash as a payment option.

Named in the bill

U.S. Department of the Treasury, Retail businesses, Unbanked and underbanked consumers, Federal district courts

Where it stands

25 cosponsors: 13 Republicans, 12 Democrats.

• Feb 7, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
• Feb 7, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on Financial Services · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Financial Services”

Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.

Money around this bill

21 lobbying clients named this bill on 26 disclosure filings across 3 quarters, Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $565,000 in lobbying spend. A filing names 2 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.

More lobbying clients named this bill than 97% of bills with at least one filing.

John Rose, the sponsor, reported $19,000 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.

• Ncr Atleos — $200,000 on 2 filings
• National Automatic Merchandising Association — $80,000 on 2 filings
• National Pawnbrokers Association — $70,000 on 1 filing
• Ncr Atleos — $60,000 on 2 filings
• Ncr Atleos — $40,000 on 2 filings

Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 21, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.