Aussies are rushing to withdraw their money from ATMs right now - here’s why

Australians are flocking to ATMs today to withdraw their money from their accounts as part of a so-called national Cash Out Day.

The event was organised by cash activists around the country to protest the increase in card-only payment options.

“Cash out tomorrow June 14th,” pro-cash Facebook group Cash Is King Australia said in a recent post. “Bank branch or ATM, get it out, use it don’t lose it.”

The event is designed to highlight the importance of keeping cash accessible and relevant as bank branch and ATM numbers rapidly decline.

Earlier this year, cash supporters withdrew heavily from banks and ATMs around the country during a similar day of protest.

“The last one worked well and already they’re looking at fines for stores that don’t allow cash,” one organiser wrote in another post.

“Choice is ours. Fight to keep cash alive.”

In the lead-up to the Cash Out Day, activists said they were supporting a national movement.

“On my way to the ATM,” one said.

Another responded: “I got cash out and I got the teller to get it for me.”

A third wrote: “ATM near the escalator in Frankston only giving fifties out. The other ATM near Boost juice gives both fifties and twenties. First one must be running low. People are definitely using them.”

One more said: “I took out $5k today.”

Added another: “We will be. It’s pay day so we go and take cash out!”

Cash in decline

The use of cash as a form of payment has been in decline in recent years as more and more options for digital transactions emerge.

Macquarie University lecturer in anthropology Chris Vasantkumar said there was an increase in Australians “cash hoarding” based on withdrawal and RBA data, indicating it wasn’t likely Australia would transition to being entirely cashless.

But cash was not the favoured method of doing business, with the Reserve Bank of Australia finding cash transactions dropped to 13 per cent in late 2022 from 69 per cent in 2007, he said.

“It’s a question of confidence for lots of folks. People get nervous about the digital infrastructure when they see examples of it going down,” Vasantkumar said.

“It’s my sense that most Australians would be happy to have cash there as a back-up.”

Vasantkumar said there were examples in which countries went cashless too soon and met with pushback from the public.

In Australia, two in five people (41 per cent) reported being “extremely concerned” about the disappearance of cash, according to data from payment technology company Waave.

A lack of trust in banking institutions and financial services, a fear of exacerbating economic inequality, and fear of rising fees are all major issues for the 1080 Australians surveyed by the company earlier this year.