‘Mandate cash acceptance or risk disaster’
A lobby group wants the government to follow in the footsteps of countries like Ireland and France by forcing essential retailers to accept physical tender.
The government must force major retailers to accept cash to guarantee its availability or risk sleepwalking into a “cashless disaster”, according to the lobby group Cash Welcome.
It said a cash guarantee applying to retailers selling food and essential groceries was the only way to ensure physical money remained in the economy.
Campaign spokesperson Jason Bryce pointed to legislated guarantees in France and some US states as well as Ireland’s recently proposed access to cash laws, mandating the acceptance of cash in supermarkets and chemists, as models to follow.
“Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Treasurer Jim Chalmers must not allow Australia to sleepwalk into a cashless society,” he said. “Already too many people are having trouble accessing and using cash.”
"There is only one way to guarantee a strong cash distribution system – and that is to ensure that cash is widely available and used in the community. Retailers selling food and essential groceries must accept cash to ensure that everyone is included in our economy and all communities have cash available when required."
A Change.org petition started by the campaign group last year has also amassed over 160,000 signatures in 10 months.
The petition called for access to banking services in addition to a cash guarantee.
“Banks are deserting towns and suburbs and leaving Australians without ready access to cash and banking services,” it said.
“Millions of Australian consumers and businesses trust and rely on cash for their everyday needs and budgeting purposes.”
An RBA report in 2023 found disadvantaged groups, such as low-income earners, people with disabilities, those who live in remote areas and the elderly, would be disproportionately affected by a transition to a “cashless society”.
The same report also said cash use had plummeted, accounting for only 13 per cent of all payments made in 2022. Meanwhile, the use of digital wallets and buy now, pay later services soared after the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Over the past year, there has been a continued shift away from cash to card payments, which now represent around three-quarters of all consumer transactions. Australian consumers are rapidly increasing their uptake of digital wallets, and use of ‘buy now, pay later’ services is also growing strongly,” it said.
Experts have predicted that the transition to a cashless society could be complete by the end of the decade, with one saying Australia could be “functionally cashless” as soon as next year.
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