CommBank, NAB and ANZ making some of their branches cashless and Macquarie Bank has announced that its cash services would be phased out entirely by 2025. At a government inquiry the boss of the Commonwealth Banks said that there is a decreasing demand for cash, and that “transporting and making cash available around our vast country involves the considerable expense of logistics and security.” Customers are paying about $ 40 each per annum to keep cash in circulation.
First, I think we need some statistics other than from the banks about the decline of cash. Go into any supermarket, and yes, some people pay by card, but most pay by cash, so I doubt this. Second, if customers are paying, what is the big boss worrying about? Yes, they have come a long way from the early ideals discussed by D. J. Amos in The Story of the Commonwealth Bank: