Reserve Bank Governor Michele Bullock has promised to keep cash as a viable payment option despite only 5.5 per cent of the population relying on notes, but a declining number of bank branches has left some worried.

Over the past few decades, cash payments have declined as digital payment methods have become more popular for buying goods and services. The latest report from the Australian Banking Association indicates that the annual count of ATM withdrawals has dropped significantly, from over 50 million in 2012 to around 15 million in 2024.

However, approximately 1.5 million Australians still rely on cash, with the central bank reporting a record amount of about $105 billion in cash still circulating.

Bullock has pledged to ensure “cash remains a viable form of payment for as long as Australians want or need to use it,” despite facing significant challenges that have increased the costs of storing, processing, and distributing cash.

“These problems are particularly pressing in rural and regional areas where these services are costlier,” she informed a parliamentary committee in Canberra yesterday.

Bullock also discussed the sustainability of Armaguard, which manages most cash movements in Australia and has needed two rounds of emergency funding from banks and the industry to continue operating.

“As you know, transporting cash to bank branches, ATMs, and retailers is handled by cash-in-transit companies, and the industry must collaborate to develop a more sustainable distribution system,” she stated.

The Australian Banking Association followed suit, saying that banks would also continue to support cash distribution and customers who “wish to still use it”. 

“Whilst people are using cash less and less, it will continue to play an important role in our economy,” an Australian Banking Association spokesperson said.

Cash Welcome campaign manager Jason Bryce, however, accused Bullock of creating a “use it or lose it” system instead of holding banks to account for their responsibility to have the mechanisms in place to distribute cash.

“The number of withdrawals made in a bank branch over the counter from a teller is not changing for the last three years, despite the fact there’s less branches and less branches that actually deal in cash,” he said.

“So Australians are travelling further, paying more to access cash.

“The problem with the words that Michelle Bullock and the RBA are using is it opens the door for the big banks to further squeeze access to cash and make it more difficult for us to use cash and then claim that we don’t want cash.

“These big four banks are private businesses responsible to shareholders. Michelle Bullock’s shareholders are the taxpayers and the citizens of Australia.”

Concerns over access to cash are growing as banks continue to shut down branches across the country, which is feared to impact the elderly and remote communities the worst.

According to the Finance Sector Union, more than 1600 bank branches closed between June 2017 and June 2022 and most were from the big four banks (Commonwealth Bank, NAB, ANZ and Westpac).

“Bank closures are simply a grab by corporations for a larger slice of profits and a desire to exit the most expensive arm of banking – face-to-face banking services,” Finance Sector Union National Secretary Julia Angrisano said when Bendigo Bank announced closures in July.

Bryce said cash was important for privacy, ownership and budgets, but also vital for serious situations like when someone was fleeing domestic violence.

“It’s not conceivable to me that there will ever be a time when we don’t need cash in Australia,” he said.

“I’m confused why the RBA isn’t more concerned about promoting the efficiency and the benefits of cash to ordinary consumers.”