Payment Choice Remains Essential: Community Defies Cashless Push

A recent move by an Australia Post outlet to refuse to accept cash has shown that the community continues to demand payment choice and do not support moves by businesses to take away cash as a payment option. In response to this, there has been widespread condemnation of this move, including that the decision will have particularly negative consequences for people with disabilities. As a result of the backlash an Australia Post spokesperson has confirmed that there will not be any further moves to remove cash from other outlets. This situation has also underscored the role Australia Post can play in supporting the distribution of cash, notably in regional Australia as the Bank@Post service becomes more important with the closure of regional bank branches. Of note, this model has already been successfully rolled out in the United Kingdom, where banking hubs run jointly by the UK Post Office and central high-street banks offer a dedicated counter for cash services, allowing customers to withdraw and deposit cash easily. 

To that end, we draw your attention again to the advantages of cash:

• Convenient & Fast

• Avoid any additional surcharges 

• Security – private and reliable

• Helps individuals with budgeting and is widely accepted

Separately, there continue to be promising developments in the negotiations between the central banks and Linfox for the long-term sustainability of cash in transit in Australia. Recent media reports have shown that banks and deployers are now looking at new cash distribution models and technologies, including smart ATMS, to promote more cash recycling and make the cash distribution method more streamlined and efficient. ATMIA will continue to closely monitor developments in this space as we move closer towards the end of the expiry of the emergency funding of cash in transit in 2025. 

This month, the AFP Joint Policing Cybercrime Coordination Centre (JPC3) is hosting a forum on international ATM skimming operations, a significant step in our collective efforts to combat this issue. I’ll be attending, and the forum will be joined by AFP JPC3, Australian state and territory law enforcement partners, and representatives from the U.S. Secret Service (USSS), including specialists from the USSS Global Investigative Operations Centre in Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles, who focus on skimming operations. ATMIA will present an international perspective on ATM skimming and insight into our ATM Security Association at this forum. Further details will be shared with our members in our next edition.

As always, our membership team is here to help if you need any assistance, so don’t hesitate to contact them by clicking here, emailing [email protected] or calling me directly using the details below. 

Cheers,
Sandra
[email protected]
Mobile: +61 424 300 660