A petition calling for a guarantee of cash and banking services in Australia has received more than 150,000 signatures, since its launch in late March by Jason Bryce from Cash Welcome.
The goal is to reach 200,000 signatures.
He noted that the UK requires banks to make sure every citizen has access to a fee-free ATM within three miles of their home, while Europe requires retailers to accept cash payments.
“All we are asking for is what other countries are doing for their citizens: 1) A right to local access to our cash and banking services. 2) A right to choose cash to pay for food and essentials,” Mr. Bryce said.
He noted the federal government is currently considering new laws to modernise payments in Australia.
“These new laws will determine the future of cash in Australia,” Mr. Bryce said.
Surcharge Fee Concern
Concerns over surcharge fees were highlighted in a recent Facebook post by Cash Welcome, which featured a business offering a 10 percent discount if businesses pay with cash, compared to a 2 percent surcharge for paying with cards.“12% discount for paying with cash! That sounds about right. Retailers pay thousands of dollars every month to accept card payments. Consumers can pay around 2% every time they tap to buy goods and services,” Cash Welcome said.
“Take control of your money and spending—stop paying fees every time you buy something. You could be wasting $1K per year just on card surcharge fees.”
Since 2017, branch numbers have fallen by 34 percent in regional and remote areas and 37 percent in Australia, the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority figures show.
ATM numbers, on the other hand, fell by 59 percent in the six years from the end of the June financial year to the end of the 2023 financial year.
These developments have fueled concerns about Australia’s potential shift toward a cashless society, a spotlight heightened by the recent Optus network outage.
Local government authorities, about 40,000 businesses, and 10 million customers were unable to process EFTPOS payments.
Optus Outage Sheds Light on Cashless Fears
The outage prompted Liberal National Party senator for Queensland Gerard Rennick to call for bank branches to remain open for cash access.Local government areas, including MidCoast Council in New South Wales, faced challenges in processing payments and taking calls during the Optus outage.
Orange Ten Pin Bowl and Dubbo Tenpin Bowl also had to advise customers to use cash, reflecting that “at times like this you realise that a cashless world is not the best thing.”
“In the event of future conflict with a hostile nation like China our telecommunications network would be the first target,” Mr. Roberts said.
“With no cash redundancy to an internet world, a hostile nation could immediately grind our entire commerce and country to a halt.”
