When Amazon began opening its Go stores, the company’s main point of differentiation was that they were a “cashless” convenience store. Customers entered Amazon Go stores by scanning the app, which is linked to a credit card or Amazon account. To check out, customers just rang up their own items. The company had big plans to open up 3,000 locations by 2021 , but recently faced complications. Earlier this year, major cities like Philadelphia and New York began banning cashless stores. Although an Amazon spokesperson tried swaying Philadelphia’s decision by saying a Go store wouldn’t open there if the bill went through, Philadelphia passed it anyway . Now, Amazon has opened its first Go store in New York City — and they’re taking cash. Customers using cash are swiped in by an Amazon employee, who scans items with a mobile device to check them out, Business Insider reported . However, there’s still no cash registers inside the store. Bans over cashless stores may seem frivolous, but...

Bans on cashless stores are popping up across the country as officials begin to weigh how they exclude certain groups of people from shopping at certain stores. Now, San Francisco may be joining a host of other cities in passing similar legislation, but this time it could include Amazon Go Stores. Last month, San Francisco’s District Five Supervisor Vallie Brown introduced a bill requiring “brick-and-mortar” businesses to accept cash. The original bill excluded Amazon Go stores because there aren’t any employees present to take cash. However, Brown expanded the proposal to include Amazon’s stores on Tuesday. This is a bold move because Amazon isn’t the most graceful when it comes to the government trying to regulate its business practices. This was apparent when Seattle tried to propose a tax on big businesses to help the homeless. This was also seen in Philadelphia, where a public fight between Amazon and city officials occurred after a bill was approved to ban stores from not...