Australia is scrapping the main payment method by 2030 as the government considers testing a digital currency
- Australia will stop cashing checks after 2030
- Jim Chalmers says it’s a “precious medium of exchange.”
- Government is considering a central bank digital currency
After 2030, checks will no longer be cashed, because the treasurer signs an end date for the one-time payment method.
The decision to phase out checks before the end of the decade comes under the federal government’s plan to modernize the country’s payment system.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers says Australian regulation has not kept pace with financial trends.
“Our policies and regulations predate the development of mobile payments,” he said at a banking conference on Wednesday.
In the modernization plan, cash is – for now – safe, but ‘precious means of exchange’, such as checks, will no longer be payment options.
Jim Chalmers has endorsed the decision to stop cashing checks after 2030 as the federal government moves to phase out paper payment
Dr. Chalmers will say that peer economies have already succeeded in phasing out checks, and government agencies will lead the way by adopting new forms of payment.
This transition will be gradual, coordinated and inclusive.
Dr. Chalmers says check usage has dropped 90 percent over the past 10 years as people opt for cheaper, more convenient digital transactions.
“It just means that leaving checks in the system is an increasingly expensive way to handle an ever-shrinking proportion of payments,” he says.
The government also plans to help industry transition from the “clumsy, inefficient and cumbersome” Bulk Electronic Clearing System – widely used by companies for payroll – to the new payment platform.
The government also wants a new licensing framework for the financial sector and is considering a trial of a central bank digital currency
The government will support continued access to cash and is considering the findings of a parliamentary inquiry into bank branch closures in regional areas.
Under the five-point plan, the government will also strengthen the country’s resilience to scams and cybersecurity threats and update Australia’s payment laws.
The government also wants a new licensing framework for the industry and is considering testing a central bank digital currency.