WE NEED CASH

So was in Woolies Sunday afternoon, and at the checkout an older woman (late 60s?) with a full trolley, was trying to pay using the old plastic.  Thing is, for some reason it just wouldn’t accept her card. She showed the checkout chick and even myself that she clearly had sufficient funds by showing us her internet banking accounts & balances. Didn’t matter though, as her plastic just wasn’t being accepted, which also meant not being able to get cash out and pay old school.
Since Christmas evening, there’s been 2 power losses here on the northern Gold Coast.  That means no way of paying for goods using plastic. No buying groceries or goods unless you have cash. I went to local Bunnings the day after Boxing Day, so a full 48 hours after the tornado storm, and the power was still out and they were still unable to accept online payment. So it was cash only, or something I hadn’t seen in use since the 90s….. the good old manual “click clack” credit card imprinter.
This move to ‘cashless Australia’ seems inevitable, just like what the ATM, Phone Banking & Online Banking did to banking, that is, the ability then to reduce costs for the Banks, reducing frontline staff numbers, and closing Branches. We’re now at a stage of Banks removing those ATMs due to the reduced use and more businesses no longer accepting cash.
My loan Golf Club pro shop no longer accepts cash even for a drink or bucket of balls. A major car dealership in Southport has not accepted cash for servicing, parts or merchandise since early 2023.
Yes, it’s actually legal for a Vendor to not take cash, but they have to offer an alternative method of payment, AND they must advertise at or before the point of sale what their payment acceptances are. If they don’t advise their alternative payment methods, they must accept cash, being still legal tender under the  Reserve Bank Act 1959.
Cash must be used and protected.  Going full digital in currency takes away your privacy to transact and purchase what you want, when you want, and without questioning by Banks, Brokers, the law, and the wife.

I understand technology and advancements, and yes it’s quick and easy to ‘tap n go’, but what this movement towards cash removal can take away is possibly much more.
The removal of cash can take away the ability for that old woman who needs to buy her weekly groceries if her plastic doesn’t work.  It takes away the ability for the young kid who wants to earn some pocket money by washing the neighbours’ car or mowing their lawn.  It takes away the ability to give some spare cash or change to the local busker, street charity container or homeless person.
Importantly, it takes away more of your privacy, in an age where we already have less privacy that our parents.
Additionally, going fully digital in currency can  result in possibly a significantly reduced borrowing capacity for the average consumer who doesn’t watch what they spend or doesn’t have a budget in place.


That’s a message for a future article.