Last time I went to the self-checkout lane I dutifully scanned all my items and clicked "Pay" and it brought me to a list of payment options with cash all grayed out. There was only one real cashier working that day with a long line stretching back into the aisle. I left the stuff I picked out right there and just walked away, so I guess they had to pay someone to put my stuff back anyway. Not sure what these companies are getting at with these user-hostile changes to their checkout flow. I drove to a small local quick-mart and did my shopping there instead.

Cash is a hassle to process, and includes fixed costs, while use of cash declines every year since the advent of payment cards.

So it's expensive to support and has little traffic. It's not exactly surprising more and more stores, especially high volume ones, let their cash payment processing decline.