Macquarie Bank: Branches to scrap CASH, cheque and phone payment services

Australia’s fifth-largest bank has announced it will scrap cash transactions at all its branches, angering customers and consumer interests.

Macquarie Bank will begin phasing out all cash, check and telephone payment services across its 80 branches from January, as it moves to digital-only transactions.

By November next year, all cash transactions in the branches will be stopped.

“Between January 2024 and November 2024, we will phase out our cash and check services across all Macquarie banking and wealth management products, including superannuation and super accounts,” the bank said in a statement.

Financial expert Sarah Wells told Daily Mail Australia that Macquarie’s move is “the next step (towards) a cashless society”.

“My biggest concern is that if one starts, the rest will follow,” she said.

Earlier this year, ANZ and Commonwealth Bank stopped handling cash in a handful of branches, but no bank had made the move in all of its branches.

“The next (step) could be rationing of cash at ATMs, which won’t be a problem for some but will be for others, especially as brick-and-mortar banks want to serve their customers rather than the needs of those who use their ATMs,” Ms Wells told Daily Mail Australia.

Macquarie bank has 1.7 million ‘customers’. Customers who want cash can still withdraw it from ATMs.

The biggest change for traditional bank customers will occur in May 2024.

That’s when it stops processing cash and checking deposits and withdrawals through the counter.

The bank’s customers will lose the ability to deposit and withdraw money from Macquarie accounts through NAB by November next year, which they are currently still able to do.

Ms Wells said this is a move Macquarie “might want to reconsider”.

“For some businesses, this may require them to change banks,” she said.

By November 2024, all check transactions with Macquarie will end, including the use of bank cheques.

It will also stop accepting pension contributions or check payments.

From January, it will scrap checkbooks for new cash management accounts, including Macquarie Wrap accounts.

Macquarie is Australia’s fifth largest bank with a market capitalization of just under $69 billion, behind only CBA, NAB, Westpac and ANZ.

It has a much greater focus on wealth management than retail banking, although it offers valuable retail banking services including auto and home loans, and savings and transaction accounts.

It is well behind the big four in terms of the number of private customers, but still has more than a million. It also has 20,105 employees.

Reactions to Macquarie’s announcement on social media were scathing.

“Then it’s not a bank, it’s a digital processing centre,” said a Western Australian woman.

“So they’re refusing legal tender?” a man asked.

One Victorian woman called it ‘blatant discrimination’.

‘This is a devious way to get your cards used so they can make a profit from administration fees. Cash is still legal tender. So they have no right to refuse the choice of money.’

Another person called for a boycott of the bank, saying: “I’m tired of banks dictating terms,” ​​said another woman.

“There go customers from Macquarie,” said another.

Ms Wells suggested another banking player could enter the market to cater to a large number of Australians who still want to use cash, including people in lower-income households, the elderly, people in regional Australia and people with disabilities.

“Will someone come and fill this space to meet the needs of the still quarter of Australians classified as heavy cash users?”

Ms Wells warned that Australia could become a cashless society in just three years, leaving thousands of people worse off.

Among those who could suffer in a cashless society are people in regional areas, those in emergency situations, indigenous Australians, new immigrants, sex workers, the elderly and even children.

Young people will suffer, Ms Wells warned, because they will not learn the true value of money and will lose valuable social interactions if all transactions are digital.

She says we can slow the disappearance of cash from society by using it when it still makes sense to do so.

In July this year, Commonwealth Bank announced it had opened a number of ‘cashless’ branches where customers can no longer access their money over the counter.

Cash-only transactions will not be available at branches including Commonwealth Bank Place in central Sydney, as well as nearby South Eveleigh, Barangaroo, Penrith and University of Sydney, which the bank is now calling “specialty centres”.

Daily Mail Australia also understands that some ‘specialist centre’ branches in Brisbane and Melbourne will no longer allow cash withdrawals and deposits without a prescription.

Deposits and withdrawals can still be made via on-site ATMs, but for those who don’t have their bank card to hand, things become much more difficult.

‘Cardless cash’ withdrawals of up to $500 per day are possible with the CommBank app, but for those who need more money or don’t have their phone with them, their money won’t be accessible.

ANZ bank has also announced it will scale back some of its services, with certain branches in Victoria no longer carrying physical cash.

The bank has not revealed which branches will be affected, insisting only a “small number” will be affected.