Major Australian bank stops cash withdrawals from its branches – as the end of paper banknotes approaches
- The ANZ bank is scrapping some of its services
- Some banks will no longer carry physical cash
- ANZ said only eight percent of customers use banks
One of Australia’s largest banks has confirmed that some of its branches are no longer allowing customers to withdraw money over the counter.
The ANZ bank is scrapping some of its services, with certain branches no longer carrying physical cash.
Instead, customers are directed to ATMs when they want to withdraw cash – even as these machines are also being phased out across the country.
ANZ said only eight per cent of its customers rely on banks for their money as more Australians move to online banking.
However, critics have warned that this could cause significant harm to the elderly and disabled who still rely on physical money.
ANZ said only eight percent of its customers depend on banks for their money
Cash transactions are dying in Australia, with just 13 percent of purchases now made with notes or coins
The number of bank branches in Australia has fallen by about 30 percent over the past five years, a trend that is spreading around the world.
And the number of ATMs has dropped even more, with numbers showing they’ve fallen from a high of 14,000 in 2017 to about 6,000 last year.
It was revealed on Wednesday that cash transactions are dying out in Australia as only 13 per cent of purchases now use notes or coins.
Tap-and-go cards, mobile payments and instant online transfers make up the remainder of all transactions, with the share of cash purchases having halved in just three years.
The Reserve Bank estimated that only 13 percent of transactions were in cash by the end of 2022, a halving in just three years since the start of the pandemic.
Contactless tap-and-go payments, where a customer used their mobile smartphone, made up a third of transactions, with younger consumers more likely to pay this way.
The ANZ bank is scrapping some of its services, with certain branches no longer carrying physical cash
Cybersecurity expert Ben Britton, who works as chief information security officer, said a cyberattack could prevent major banks from conducting electronic transactions linked to their EFTPOS terminals.
“That whole system relies on an internet connection to work, so if the internet connection is interrupted people can’t pay,” he told Daily Mail Australia.
“If there was a major cyber-attack, if there was a vulnerability in that terminal and it was exploited, they could potentially shut down every terminal across the country.”
This can happen if hackers figure out how to misuse a bank’s computer code.