Shake Shack Drawing Flack Over Mobile Payments-Only Locations

Mobile payments are a great option, but sometimes, they can go a bit too far, especially when you ask some who are left with the unpalatable choice of using mobile payments or shopping elsewhere. That’s a point that’s hitting Danny Meyer’s Union Square Hospitality Group, which now features a sixth restaurant with at least some element of cashless operations. The problem is that the sixth restaurant is none other than 21st century American phenom Shake Shack.

Union Square comprises five restaurants that have gone completely cashless: Caffe Marchio, Daily Provisions, Martina, Tacocina, and Vini e Fritti. Shake Shack, meanwhile, had recently brought cashless operations to one location, and with recent word noting that more of Union Square’s operations will proceed to cashless, some are starting to criticize the chain, suggesting that some guests are no longer welcome in Union Square’s purview.

Meyer, meanwhile, noted “We know that some have raised concerns about the socioeconomic implications of operating a cashless business. By not accepting cash, a restaurant may be excluding prospective guests who do not have a bank account. And we might be inconveniencing guests who simply don’t have their credit/debit on them at the time. That’s certainly not our aim.” Meyer also noted that he knew of no federal law that existed that required businesses to accept cash, and considered the move to cashless operations a matter of safety.

Meyer’s customers are less than happy. Shake Shack has abandoned plans to go fully cashless, earlier reports noted, and an earnings call with CEO Randy Garutti made it clear customers want to pay with cash, at least sometimes.

Meyer may be right about no law being required that forces a business to accept cash—the “this note is legal tender for all debts, public and private” printed on a bill notwithstanding—but as “Jurassic Park” long ago introduced to us, sometimes we’re so busy wondering if we can that we don’t stop to wonder if we should.

Mobile payments are a great option for businesses, and one that is increasingly valuable with customers. But to go completely cashless ignores a major portion of the population. Banks have increasingly seen that, and worked accordingly; hopefully this won’t be a lesson lost on Union Square and those restaurant groups like it.