Amazon Go stores to start accepting cash payments

According to CNBC, the company plans to add other payment mechanisms at its cashier-less Go stores, which charge purchases using an app connected to a bank or credit card. Amazon has 10 Go stores, but it has been reported that the company is considering opening up to 3,000 cashier-less stores by 2021.

Amazon Go, which opened to the public in 2018, has no cashiers or checkout lines. The stores automatically detect products that are bagged and they charge the customer upon exiting. Customers download a separate Amazon Go mobile app to shop at the stores, which offer an assortment of on-the-go type meals and snacks, as well as fresh produce.

Accepting cash payments as well could help temper criticism that Amazon’s cashier-less model fails to serve a sizeable portion of US households, while also expanding Amazon Go’s customer base. More and more cities and states are enacting laws that require stores to accept cash to cater to the unbanked, who account for 6.5% (about 8.4 million) of US households, according to a 2017 FDIC report.