As Amazon leads cashless charge, US states and cities push back

Irena Kubiliene shops at the new Amazon Go store on the 100 block of South Franklin Street on Monday, Sept. 17, 2018 in Chicago, Ill. (Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune/TNS)

Rebecca Esparza works with homeless people and, having once lived in a shelter herself, knows what it’s like to navigate the US economy if you don’t have much money. For most of her clients, cash is king because they lack access to the financial tools many Americans take for granted – checking accounts, debit cards, payment apps.

Esparza worries that the growing number of cashless stores and restaurants around the country will further marginalise low-income people at a time when inequality is already the highest in more than half a century.