Page 28 - drive a2b july 2020 web

Coronavirus has fast-

tracked our journey to

a cashless future, but

will cash disappear

altogether? by Kishor Napier-Raman

Australians are using less cash than ever. We’ve
stopped taking money out of ATMs. We’ve stopped
using it to buy coffee.

And while other societies stubbornly cling to old-
fashioned payment methods, we’ve taken up
contactless tap-and-pay with great enthusiasm. And
now, as COVID-19 has induced a fear of physical
contact, that’s set to accelerate.

A long decline The virus makes it worse

When did so many Australians fall out of love with cash? But these changes in spending patterns will probably be
The most recent survey of consumer payment behaviour locked in even further by the pandemic, with more shops
from the Reserve Bank of Australia suggests it’s been a urging customers to use cards or contactless payments,
long time coming. says Swinburne University of Technology Professor Steve
Worthington.
In 2007, cash accounted for 69% of transactions, cards
26%. The most recent survey, in 2019, found cash had “I think people will get used to not using cash and after the
fallen to 27% (down 10% from the 2016 survey), and cards pandemic those habits will roll on,” he says.
were at 63%.
“Contactless, digital and other payments will increase.”
Despite the recent growth in things like Apple Pay, internet
and phone banking account for just 3% of all payments. In early March, the World Health Organisation was
misreported as having recommended contactless
The Commonwealth Bank said Australia is the sixth payments over cash. It had, in fact, advised people to
least cash-dependent society in the world and could be wash their hands after using banknotes.
cashless by 2026. Other more ambitious estimates suggest
that could happen in just two years. Still, the decline of cash has been swift. Anecdotally, at
least, many cafes and restaurants are accepting only
It’s a trend across the Western world. Even in the cards. ATM withdrawals have declined by about a third
United States, where things like tap-and-pay are a rarity since the start of the crisis and there’s been a 60% drop in
compared with Australia, three in 10 adults don’t use cash ATM withdrawals in the UK. But there are other ways the
each week. pandemic might have rewired our spending habits. In the
early days when we were panic-buying toilet paper and
28 DRIVE A2B magazine · www.drivea2b.com.au · July 2020