New York to ban cashless stores

Another 'one in the eye' for the card schemes (in particular Visa and Mastercard) who have used their market muscle to hoodwink regulators, bully banks, intimidate retailers and ultimately rip off consumers as they continue to flout competition laws around the world, in their quest to systematically displace every other payment mechanism. Well done New York City. And to anyone who currently works or has ever worked at Visa or Mastercard you need to know, the world hates you.  

That is a rather odd way of dealing with helping the unbanked; it seems to direct any mugger to concentrate on a group of people who have the least to lose, but the least protection at the same time.

Credit is not necessary to access funds; take refugee camps where systems are set up for iris recognition so benefits can be settled in a cashless form, as an example. 

Far better, and less discriminatory, to enable the unbanked rather than create increased risk for them; it is also a way to help them save and perhaps build a credit score for the future, rather than lock them into an ongoing precarious state.

Can't agree with "Another 'one in the eye' for the card schemes". This ruling doesn't have any impact on the schemes and will primarily hit those merchants that are forced to manage limited amounts of cash including the risks and costs associated with this.    

Critically important for local & state governments and consumers themselves to counter the efforts of tech companies, predatory banks, captured bank regulators, and central banks to eliminate cash to set the stage for a scenario where everyone needs a bank account, banks can charge for holding deposits, and financial transaction and holdings of financial assets are no longer private.