The Payment Choice Act of 2025 adds a new federal prohibition on refusing U.S. currency at physical retail locations. It requires any person selling goods or services in-person to accept cash for transactions up to $500 and forbids charging cash-paying customers a higher price than customers who pay by other means.
The bill also sets conditions under which a retailer may offer an on-site cash-to-prepaid-card conversion device and permits a temporary refusal to accept very large bills.
This matters because it creates a federal floor for cash access across brick-and-mortar commerce, directly affecting compliance obligations for retailers, the Treasury’s role in defining acceptable denominations, and private enforcement through a notice-and-cure plus civil action mechanism with statutory damages and capped attorney fees. Practically, the law would reshape loss-prevention, point-of-sale design, and litigation risk for businesses that have moved toward cashless operations.
At a Glance
What It Does
Adds section 5104 to title 31, U.S. Code, requiring physical retail sellers who accept in-person payments to accept cash up to $500 per transaction and prohibiting higher prices for cash-paying customers. It creates narrow exceptions (temporary system failures, insufficient change, and regulated on-site cash-to-prepaid conversion devices) and directs the Treasury to issue a rule after five years on denominations retailers must accept.
Who It Affects
Brick-and-mortar retailers and other persons taking in-person payments at a physical location (including some telephone/mail/internet operations that process payments at a physical site). It also affects Treasury (rulemaking), consumer advocates, unbanked and underbanked consumers, and courts handling private enforcement actions.
Why It Matters
The bill sets a uniform federal standard for cash acceptance where state rules differ, potentially overriding merchant policies that have moved to cashless models. It creates new compliance tasks (cash-handling, signage, point-of-sale processes) and a private right of action that could generate new litigation focused on alleged refusals.
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What This Bill Actually Does
The bill creates a standalone federal statute that bars retail sellers operating at a physical location from refusing U.S. cash for in-person transactions up to $500. It also bars charging a higher price to customers who pay with cash than the price charged to customers who pay by other means.
That is the core compliance obligation: accept cash (subject to listed exceptions) and do not penalize cash customers with a higher price.
To limit operational burdens, the bill permits two narrow categories of exception. First, a retailer can temporarily decline to accept cash when a sale system has failed or when the retailer lacks sufficient change on hand.
Second, a retailer may provide a device on the premises that converts cash into a prepaid card, but only if the device meets strict conditions: no fees to use the device, no minimum deposit above $1, no collection of personal identifying information at the device, no fee to use the card produced, and the funds placed on the card do not expire except as allowed by the bill’s inactivity-fee rules. If a prepaid card goes unused for 12 months, the issuer may charge an inactivity fee, limited to one fee per month and disclosed conspicuously on both the issuing mechanism and the card.The bill also suspends any requirement that retailers accept $50 and larger bills for five years from enactment; after that five-year period the Treasury must issue a rule specifying which denominations are required, and the statute directs the Secretary to require acceptance of $1, $5, $10, and $20 bills.
For enforcement, the bill establishes a private enforcement regime structured around a 45-day notice-and-cure process: an aggrieved customer must send notice describing the alleged refusal and give the retailer 45 days to cure. If the retailer fails to cure, the customer can sue in federal or other courts of competent jurisdiction.
Remedies include actual damages (or liquidated damages of $250 if actual damages are less), civil penalties of up to $500 for a first offense and $1,500 for subsequent offenses, and discretionary attorney’s fees capped at $3,000 for prevailing non-governmental plaintiffs. The provision allows courts to appoint counsel for eligible plaintiffs and permits the Attorney General to intervene in cases of general public importance.
Finally, the bill preserves any state, local, Tribal, or territorial law that provides greater consumer protections than the new federal baseline and directs Treasury to issue implementing rules, including possible additional exceptions.
The Five Things You Need to Know
The bill requires acceptance of cash for in-person retail transactions up to and including $500 per transaction.
Retailers may not charge cash-paying customers a higher price than non-cash customers.
Retailers may provide on-site cash-to-prepaid-card conversion devices only if the device charges no fee, requires no more than $1 minimum deposit, does not collect personal identifying information, issues cards without expiration (subject to limited inactivity fees), and charges no fee to use the card.
For five years after enactment retailers are not required to accept $50 bills or larger; the Treasury must promulgate rules after five years and is directed to require acceptance of $1, $5, $10, and $20 bills.
Enforcement is primarily private: a 45-day written notice-and-cure is required, after which customers can sue for actual or liquidated damages ($250 if actual damages are smaller), civil penalties ($500 first offense, $1,500 subsequent), and limited attorney’s fees (court may award up to $3,000).
Section-by-Section Breakdown
Every bill we cover gets an analysis of its key sections.
Short title
Designates the bill as the 'Payment Choice Act of 2025.' This is purely identification and does not affect substantive rights or obligations; it matters for citation and how agencies and courts refer to the statute.
Sense of Congress on legal tender and consumer choice
States Congressional intent that U.S. currency should be treated as legal tender and that consumers should have the right to use cash at retail for in-person purchases. 'Sense of Congress' provisions express policy intent but do not create enforceable rights; here it frames the statute's purpose and may influence judicial interpretation and agency rulemaking.
Core prohibition: accept cash up to $500 and ban on higher pricing for cash payers
Adds the central obligation: any person selling goods or services at retail who accepts in-person payments at a physical location must accept cash for transactions up to $500 and may not charge cash customers more than customers paying other ways. Practically, retailers must update point-of-sale policies and pricing practices so cash payments are both accepted and not disadvantaged by higher pricing compared to card or digital-pay customers.
Temporary operational exceptions and strict rules for in-store cash-to-card devices
Creates operational exceptions that allow temporary refusal to accept cash during system failures or when a merchant lacks change. It also authorizes in-store cash-conversion devices provided they meet multiple conditions: no fees to use the device, a maximum $1 minimum deposit, no collection of customer-identifying information at the device, no fees to use the produced prepaid card, and no expiration of funds (subject to limited inactivity fees). The bill caps inactivity fees to one per month after 12 months of inactivity and requires conspicuous disclosure of the fee, frequency, and amount on both the issuing mechanism and the card.
Temporary refusal of large bills and Treasury rulemaking on required denominations
Permits retailers to refuse $50 and larger denominations for five years after enactment, creating a temporary practical concession for businesses concerned about large-bill acceptance. Five years post-enactment, the Treasury Secretary must issue a rule defining which denominations are mandatory; the statute explicitly requires the Treasury to mandate acceptance of $1, $5, $10, and $20 bills. The provision places operational decisions about denomination acceptance with Treasury after the initial moratorium period.
Private enforcement with notice-and-cure, statutory damages and penalties, and preemption floor
Establishes a private enforcement framework: customers must send a detailed notice and give a 45-day cure period; unresolved claims may proceed in federal or other competent courts. Remedies include actual damages (or $250 liquidated if smaller), civil penalties up to $500 for a first violation and up to $1,500 for subsequent violations, and discretionary attorney’s fees capped at $3,000 for prevailing private plaintiffs. The Attorney General can intervene in cases of public importance, and courts can appoint counsel for qualifying plaintiffs. The statute preserves any state or local law that offers greater consumer protections, so it functions as a federal floor rather than a ceiling.
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Explore Finance in Codify Search →Who Benefits and Who Bears the Cost
Every bill creates winners and losers. Here's who stands to gain and who bears the cost.
Who Benefits
- Unbanked and underbanked consumers — guarantees continued ability to use cash for in-person purchases up to $500 and reduces the risk of exclusion from merchants that adopt cashless policies.
- Low-income consumers and seniors — who disproportionately rely on cash and would gain a uniform federal protection against refusal or price penalties for cash use.
- Consumer advocates and legal services organizations — gain a clear federal cause of action to enforce cash access and can seek statutory damages and penalties on behalf of affected customers.
Who Bears the Cost
- Brick-and-mortar retailers and chains — must revise point-of-sale procedures, maintain cash-handling operations (change, secure storage, deposit logistics), and assume potential increased litigation and civil-penalty exposure for refusals.
- Small businesses with thin margins or safety concerns — face costs from higher theft/robbery risk, insurance, and staffing to manage cash, and may need to install or manage compliant cash-conversion devices.
- Treasury and implementing agencies — will expend resources to promulgate the required rule after five years and to provide guidance on implementation, including defining acceptable exceptions.
Key Issues
The Core Tension
The central tension is between guaranteeing equitable access to cash for consumers (particularly the unbanked and vulnerable) and preserving merchant autonomy, safety, and operational pragmatism: the bill enforces consumer access at the cost of added compliance, security exposure, and litigation risk for retailers, while delegation of denomination rules to Treasury after five years transfers significant discretion and uncertainty to the executive branch.
The bill resolves one access problem — merchant refusal of cash — but creates several implementation and enforcement puzzles. First, the $500 per-transaction cap invites operational workarounds: merchants could split sales to avoid the limit, refuse to process bundled transactions, or change return/exchange policies in ways that disproportionally affect cash customers.
The statute allows temporary non-acceptance for lack of change or system failures, but those exceptions are fact-sensitive and could become sources of dispute and litigation over whether a cited failure was legitimate or pretextual.
Second, the private enforcement model with relatively modest statutory damages and capped attorney’s fees is a mixed incentive. The 45-day notice-and-cure procedure reduces impulsive litigation but still permits private suits with civil penalties and liquidated damages.
Plaintiffs’ counsel may pursue serial claims where small damages are offset by statutory penalties and ease of alleging non-compliance, producing compliance litigation risk for merchants. At the same time, the $3,000 cap on attorney’s fees may limit representation for complex cases and shifts some burden to public interest firms.
Third, the prepaid-card device rules protect some consumer-facing harms (no device fee, limited minimums, and prohibition on PII collection at the device) but do not fully address downstream privacy, fees, or commercial surveillance once a prepaid card is used. Merchants could steer cash into closed-loop cards that later impose fees or data collection when the card is registered, raising unresolved questions about the practical equivalence of 'accepting cash' versus converting cash into merchant-controlled payment products.
Finally, the five-year moratorium on accepting $50 and larger bills reduces immediate burdens for some merchants but puts a lot of interpretive and policy authority on Treasury after that period — the statute expressly requires the Treasury to mandate $1, $5, $10, and $20 acceptance but otherwise leaves denomination policy and additional exceptions to administrative rulemaking, creating uncertainty for businesses planning longer-term operations.
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