Legal tender

Legal tender is a form of money that the law recognises as valid for the discharge of a monetary debt in a jurisdiction. What constitutes legal tender varies between jurisdictions.

However, legal-tender status generally does not require a seller to accept a particular form of payment before entering into a transaction. Businesses may therefore set the terms on which they accept payment, including electronic payment methods, foreign currencies or other means of payment where permitted by law.

In most countries, coins and banknotes are legal tender, whereas cheques, and other non-cash payment methods are generally not. Some jurisdictions recognise a foreign currency as legal tender, either alongside or instead of a domestic currency. Governments may also withdraw legal-tender status from a currency through demonetisation or introduce a new legal tender to replace an existing one.