Yum! Brands digital model would affect order, preparation, not eliminate cash | Fact check

BrieAnna J. Frank, USA TODAY
·3 min read

The claim: KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut announced they will no longer accept cash

An Aug. 22 Facebook post (direct link, archive link) claims several fast-food brands are making a major change regarding accepted forms of payment.

“Taco Bell, KFC & Pizza Hut have announced they’re going all cashless/digital transactions,” reads the post. “Thoughts?”

It received more than 150 shares in one week.

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Our rating: False

The restaurants have not gone cashless. A spokesperson for Yum! Brands, the parent company of the restaurants, told USA TODAY the company has an “aspiration” of having a digital component in 100% of its sales, but customers would still be able to pay with cash.

Cash would still be accepted as payment in digital-first model

Yum! Brands spokesperson Virginia Ferguson told USA TODAY that claims of the brand being cashless are false. The company has not issued any news releases or social media posts that indicate any changes have been made to accepted forms of payment at its restaurants.

Rather, the company’s “aspiration is that someday 100% of our global system sales will be powered by digital,” said Ferguson.

The idea revolves around some digital component being involved in every transaction. Examples Ferguson gave included placing an order through an app, a restaurant kiosk or via text message. It could also mean ordering with an AI assistant at a drive-thru.

But the digital model would not limit how customers can pay for their order.

“While these transactions would include a digital component, our restaurants would continue to accept customers’ preferred method of payment, including cash,” Ferguson said.

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Chris Turner, Yum! Brands’ chief financial officer, told The Wall Street Journal in August the company’s ability to reach its digital transaction goal would “depend on new innovations.”

Turner said in an early August earnings call that the company had created a plan for shifting to a 100% digital model, the outlet reported.

Yum! Brands has not publicly outlined a timeline for when such a transition could happen, but the restaurant chains mentioned in the Facebook post have taken steps toward the goal.

Taco Bell opened a digital-first restaurant model in Columbus, Georgia, in late August, as reported by the Ledger-Enquirer. The concept was first launched at a Taco Bell in El Paso, Texas, in March 2023 which has "more digital touchpoints than any other Taco Bell restaurant," according to the chain's website.

KFC has also set a goal of being 100% digital by 2025, according to its website. It describes innovations such as robotic kitchen assistants and digitized takeout orders.

Additionally, Pizza Hut Division CEO Aaron Powell said in December 2022 that the chain was looking to transition into a “modern, digital-first brand,” as reported by Nation’s Restaurant News.

USA TODAY previously debunked claims that Starbucks and Walmart were going cashless.

USA TODAY reached out to the user who shared the post for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: False claim several fast-food chains are going cashless | Fact check