A Coles customer has warned of the brutal transition to a cashless society.
Sydney-based DJ and music producer Tom Budin fears self-service checkouts that accept cash will soon be a thing of the past, and showed proof during a recent shopping trip to his local Coles.
He was alarmed to discover that seven out of nine self-service checkouts were ‘card only’, prompting campaigners to make a plea to the federal government to allow businesses to accept cash.
Mr Budin uploaded a video to Tiktok, taken inside the store, in which he counted the marked card-only tills, before zooming in on the two remaining tills in the far corner, which were unmarked.
He also asked followers for their thoughts on whether Coles will go completely cashless.
Of the nine self-service checkouts at Tom Budin’s local Coles, seven were ‘card only’
“There are only two machines left that accept cash and, mark my words, these machines will be gone in my opinion by the end of the year,” he explains in the video.
“What a world we live in, ladies and gentlemen.”
Budin’s video led to divided reactions among viewers.
Many commentators saw no problem in the move towards a cashless society.
‘What’s wrong with just Card? More convenient,” one viewer wrote.
Another added: ‘So Coles is pursuing an agenda or dealing with the way the majority of customers already pay?’
Other customers pledged to continue using cash.
“Cashless is great until there’s a power outage or our phone dies…,” one person wrote.
Another added: ‘Legally I can’t say no to cash. If it remains legal tender.”
A third wrote: ‘My Coles didn’t have an ATM, just a card. I had to wait for someone to serve me to pay with cash.’
Coles declined to comment when contacted by Ny Breaking Australia, other than to say “there is no truth to what is alleged in the video.”
It is understood that Coles has no plans to remove self-service cash options.
The two unmarked registers that accepted cash were in the far corner of the register
Sydney DJ Tom Budin fears Coles will run out of cash by the end of the year
Cash advocates claim Coles made “a big mistake” when they launched a petition urging the federal government to take more action to protect cash.
‘In many Coles stores, staff ask: ‘Are you paying by cash or card?’. The cash people always have to wait. The card people always step up,” Cash Welcome coordinator Jason Bryce said Yahoo Australia.
‘This is a big mistake by Coles. Coles is literally pushing us out of cash, against our will.
‘Coles cannot guarantee that their EFTPOS system is reliable 24/7/365. As soon as a malfunction occurs, chaos ensues, which they themselves have caused.’
Are petition The call for the right to continue buying food with cash has more than 130,000 signatures.
“Other countries like Britain, France and the US protect cash, now Australians are standing up for our right to get our food with cash if we want to,” says Cash Welcome.
‘Supermarkets prefer cashless transactions. Coles and Woolworths ask customers: ‘cash or card?’
‘People who pay in cash (our legal tender) wait longer at a limited number of cash registers.’
Campaigners have warned of the consequences of phasing out cash: more money for banks that get a cut of every transaction paid for by card, and banks and other bodies that can track each person’s spending history and location.
A growing number of Australian shoppers are making the switch to cashless transactions