ANZ, one of Australia's "big four" banks, will stop cash withdrawals and deposits at a number of its Australian branches as it looks to push its customers to use a dwindling number of ATMs and deposit machines.
The decision was met with opposition, with critics such as Patricia Sparrow, chief executive of the Council on Aging, telling The Australian the change could disproportionately affect digitally less able older people. Impact. Others said it would make fiat currency users more vulnerable to technical issues. The move also revived concerns about a push to eliminate cash and that it could soon be replaced by a central bank digital currency (CBDC). In response to questions from Cointelegraph, an ANZ spokesperson said the affected branches were all metropolitan branches with nearby ATMs and deposit machines, a move that was partly due to a 50% drop in intra-branch transactions over the past four years above.
As Australia gradually transitions to a cashless society, the proportion of retail payments made in cash fell from 59 per cent in 2007 to just 27 per cent in 2019, according to a March 16 announcement from the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA). The RBA noted that the results of its 2022 survey will be published later this year, but added that the COVID-19 pandemic has only accelerated this trend, with businesses also contributing to the shift:
"Additionally, a significant proportion of merchants indicated plans to block cash payments at some point in the future." The RBA also pointed to a reduction in the number of ATMs and bank branches across the country, with the number of bank branches down 30 per cent since 2017 and the number of ATMs down 25 per cent since 2016.
One of the main concerns of CBDCs replacing cash is how they might affect personal liberty and privacy, as cash transactions provide anonymity and the ability to conduct transactions without leaving records. Australia is currently running a CBDC pilot program, which is expected to be renewed around mid-2023, and one of the consequences identified by the RBA is that it may replace the cash Australian dollar.
In an emailed response to Cointelegraph’s questions, a spokesperson for NAB, another Big Four bank, somewhat allayed these concerns, saying: "NAB is still handling cash at our branches and we have no plans to change. Cash will continue to play an important role in Australian society as long as our customers want it."
The other two of the big four banks, CBA and Westpac, did not respond to Cointelegraph’s questions by press time, but Westpac told The Australian that it also has no plans to withdraw cash through its branches. However, a CBA spokesperson was slightly ambiguous in his response.
