Dollar General makes major change to its payment options for over 19,000 stores but customers must have their phones

DOLLAR General is changing the way customers pay for items with cash.

The discount retail giant is partnering with payment service PayNearMe to offer Dollar General customers a new digital way to pay with cash and log their purchases.

PayNearMe sends customers a reusable barcode on their phone for the partner store they are shopping at.

This means when they go to pay with cash the purchase is scanned on the app, logged for both the customer and the store, and produces a digital receipt.

As more and more retailers move away from cash, PayNearMe is meant to preserve the option by streamlining and digitizing the process.

“Our clients’ customers can easily visit one of thousands of retail locations nationwide, present a scannable barcode on their smartphone to a cashier, pay in cash, and receive a receipt verifying the transaction is complete,” Michael Kaplan, Chief Revenue Officer, and General Manager of PayNearMe said.

Those who use cash are often older and have lower incomes, and offering them cash options is an important part of keeping them part of the economy.

While PayNearMe is well-known for its digital cash service, it also serves as a purely digital payment service for its retail partners.

PayNearMe will now be offered at Dollar General's 19,000 locations across the country.

Other PayNearMe partners include 7-Eleven, Walmart, and Family Dollar.

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While Dollar General continues to go strong as it expands its payment options, other retailers have not been so fortunate.

Many once-dominant household names have fallen on hard times thanks to long-term challenges from e-commerce, lasting pandemic disruptions, and in some cases, mismanagement.

Kmart, which once boasted 2,000 stores nationwide will close its last New Jersey location on September 30.

There are now only two left in the entire country.

One is on Long Island, New York, and the other is in Miami, Florida.

Kmart was put into bankruptcy along with its parent store, Sears, back in 2018.

As Kmart faces extinction, another major retailer barely dodged becoming totally defunct.

Bed Bad & Beyond went bankrupt earlier this year and was on the way to closing for good before it was bought by Overstock.com in June.

Now the store - alongside sister outlet BuyBuyBaby - is trying to stage a small comeback.

The closure bug has come for a variety of very different stores, as well.

Major pharmacy chains have been downsizing.

And, a bankrupt party store is trying to stay alive as it closes many locations right before Halloween.