Australians launch ‘cash-only week’ to protest digital payments

A growing movement of Australians against digital payments have designated this week as “cash-only week” in protest of the digital trend.

“Pay with cash only for everything that you can 3-10 July,” read a post shared on Facebook and Twitter among hundreds of thousands of users. “Please be part of this. Get behind the cash only movement.

“If everyone does cash only, it can only benefit us plebs of society. It's our hard-earned!!! Stop paying fees and charges that big corps impose on us.”

The post was shared by Call Out Cash Businesses, a Facebook group of over 41,000 members who share which businesses refuse to accept cash. Similar groups include Keep Cash: Worldwide, a group of nearly 90,000 members who are “united across the world to keeping cash as a valid option”.

“Cash for spending within stores and businesses gives you digital privacy, and also helps you to keep track of what you spend more easily. Cash also helps to protect the most vulnerable in our society and makes budgeting easier,” says the group’s description.

Several netizens report walking away from purchases this week when told they could not pay with cash.

“We are British, [and] currently spending a few months annual holiday here in Australia,” said one. “[We’ve] been here a few weeks now, and have left the goods on the counter and left [the] store when told ‘no cash’.”

Australia’s 7News reports that three Australian Facebook groups with over 60,000 followers collectively have also posted about cash-only week.

The protest comes as some Australian banks recently announced they will be phasing out cash, removing privacy form . In April, ANZ Bank confirmed it will no longer be handling cash at certain branches in an effort to support more digital transactions.

In a March report about a coming “digital wave” ANZ noted that digital payments are becoming a growing preference over physical payments like cash.

“As consumers become accustomed to digital and even invisible payments – think transport apps automatically taking care of payment – they increasingly regard making physical payments as an inconvenience,” said ANZ Worldline Payment Solutions Chief Market Officer Anne McDonnell.

The bank also expressed enthusiasm for central bank digital currencies (CBDC), which are digital currencies issued and governed by a central bank. Unlike with cash, transactions performed with CBDC are not anonymous and have the potential to be monitored — and even controlled — by authorities.

Several countries, including Australia, are currently exploring and testing their own CBDCs and how they can be used for both domestic and cross-border payments.