S. 2326 — Payment Choice Act of 2025

This section expresses the sense of Congress that United States currency should be treated as legal tender throughout the United States and that every consumer should have the right to use cash as payment at retail businesses that accept in-person payments.

This section prohibits retail businesses accepting in-person payments at physical locations from refusing cash for transactions up to and including $500 or charging cash-paying customers higher prices than non-cash customers. It provides exceptions where a business (1) cannot accept cash due to temporary system failure or insufficient change on hand or (2) offers a no-fee device on premises to convert cash to prepaid cards (with no minimum deposit over $1, no personal information collected, non-expiring funds except for inactivity fees after 12 months of no activity—at most one fee per month, clearly disclosed—and no card usage fees). For the five-year period beginning on the date of enactment, businesses are not required to accept $50 bills or larger; five years after enactment, the Secretary of the Treasury must issue a rule requiring acceptance of $1, $5, $10, and $20 bills. For enforcement, it authorizes aggrieved customers to send a 45-day notice to the retailer before filing suit in federal or state court for injunctive relief, actual damages (or $250 liquidated damages if less), civil penalties up to $500 for a first offense or $1,500 for subsequent offenses, and reasonable attorney's fees not exceeding $3,000 for prevailing parties other than the United States.