CANBERRA: Australia will mandate businesses selling essential items such as groceries and fuel to accept cash payments, joining countries from Spain to Denmark amid the growth in more preferable digital payment methods.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers said while around 1.5 million Australians still use cash for more than 80% of their in-person payments, the number of businesses accepting them has shrunk.
The changes were designed to ensure “people aren’t left behind,” he said. “We’re making sure that people can pay cash for essentials if they want to, and if they need to. Cash can be a really important lifeline.”
Like many other nations, Australia has been moving away from cash payments in favour of digital transactions, with Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) data showed that the use of banknotes for transactions is down.
Meanwhile, the value of mobile wallet transactions in Australia hit A$93bil (US$60bil) in 2022, up from A$746mil in 2018, a more than 12,000% surge, according to an analysis by the RBA. — Bloomberg
