Australia’s fifth-largest bank has announced it will scrap cash transactions in all its branches, outraging customers and consumer advocates. Macquarie Bank will begin phasing out all cash, cheque and phone payment services in its Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane branches from January as moves to digital-only transactions. It will have ceased all in-branch cash transactions by next November.
‘Between January 2024 and November 2024, we’ll be phasing out our cash and cheque services across all Macquarie banking and wealth management products, including pension and super accounts,’ the bank said in a statement.
Finance expert Sarah Wells told Daily Mail Australia that Macquarie’s move ‘is the next step [towards] a cashless society.’ ‘My biggest concern is when one starts the rest will follow,’ she said. Earlier this year ANZ and Commonwealth Bank to stop handling cash in a handful branches but no bank had taken the step across all its branches.
‘The next [step] may be cash rationing at ATMS which for some won’t be an issue but for others it will be, especially as brick and mortar banks look to serve their customers over the needs of those that use their ATMs,’ Ms Wells told Daily Mail Australia.