A Melbourne McDonald’s and NSW bakery are among many businesses which have made the decision to ditch cash, as experts predict Australia will become “technically cashless” in one to two years.
The businesses sparked furious debate online last week, with some outraged customers declaring they will boycott the stores over the move.
Speaking to Sunrise on Monday, professor of marketing and consumer behaviour Gary Mortimer said many businesses are going cashless off the back of Aussie’s declining cash use.
“At the end of the day, the data shows that fewer and fewer of us are actually using cash,” he told the program.
“I think the other driving factor there is security … if you’re not holding cash there’s less chance of an armed hold up.”
He added “somebody has to take the cash to the bank to bank it, which means there’s some security risks in doing that”.
It comes after a sign was posted at a McDonald’s drive-through at Melbourne’s Clayton South, advising customers that cash wouldn’t be accepted at certain times of the day for security reasons.
“For the ongoing safety of our staff and customers, we will no longer accept cash payments between midnight and 6am,” the sign, which was shared by a disgruntled customer online, read.
“Thank you for your continued co-operation and understanding.”
The customer, who posted the photo to the ‘Cash is King’ Facebook group, called on others to stop visiting the outlet.
“Boycott this Maccas,” they wrote. “I don’t come here that regularly, but I have been for years and (have) only seen this today.”
“I instantly questioned them why? They say because they were robbed. Either way, I don’t care, I’m paying cash regardless.”
A McDonald’s spokesperson told 7News other restaurants in Melbourne’s east and south have made similar moves.
“The safety and wellbeing of our people and customers is our top priority,” the spokesperson said.
“This includes asking customers to use cashless payment methods where possible.”
The spokesperson said other restaurants would still accept cash if that was the only payment method available.
Across the border in NSW, The Heritage Bakery, in Milton, has taken a more drastic move, opting to go completely digital.
In a sign displayed in store, the business declared itself “Australia’s first cashless bakery” and thanked customers for being “an early adopter” of change.
“Cashless is quick … Cashless is clean … Cashless is accurate”, the sign read.
A picture of the sign was shared by a customer in ‘Cash is King’ Facebook page, who wrote they “walked out” of the store after learning the news.
Professor Mortimer told Sunrise the COVID-19 pandemic “pushed” the country’s move away from cash.
During that time, many businesses refused to exchange physical currency to avoid spreading the virus.
“We’ve come out of that period and many businesses have said ‘we didn’t really take a lot of cash so we probably don’t need to facilitate cash,’” he explained.
As more businesses follow the trend, Professor Mortimer said business are in fact allowed to “trade as they wish” and refuse cash.
“They can trade certain hours depending on what the legislation is locally, but also when it comes to how they like to trade their goods or their services, they can opt to say ‘listen I’m going to take cash or I’m going to take card, or digital payments or I’ll take a bit of both’.”
In Australia, it is legal for businesses to refuse to accept cash provided that they inform consumers of their stance before any ‘contract’ for the supply of goods or services is entered into.
Cashless by 2026
Recent analysis authored by central bank officials found that cash usage had halved in the past three years, with its decline accelerated by the Covid-19 pandemic.
In 2019, the share of consumers’ transactions paid in cash was 27 per cent, but by 2019, this figure had fallen to just 13 per cent.
Finance specialist Sarah Wells predicted Australia would effectively be cashless by 2026.
“People aren’t popping down and taking money out of the ATM or going to banks anymore,” she previously told news.com.au, noting that only 13 per cent of transactions in Australia are still done with cash.
To balance out the scales, Aussies would need to revert to withdrawing and using cash over a long period to reintroduce the demand.
“We are in a situation that we have created ourselves,” she said.
“All we have to do is change our behaviour. If every Australian went out and withdrew $100 a week, instead of buying stuff. You know what? We’d end up with more cash in the system, kids, will know about cash, stocks will start taking cash.”
“If we don’t want to live like that, we have to inconvenience ourselves a little bit and change the supply and demand.”
