ANZ Bank’s secret cashless agenda exposed

One million cash withdrawals per day prove Aussies still want cash

 

Banks often claim that consumers don't want to face-to-face banking and cash services. But Australians are withdrawing the same amount of cash from a reduced number of cash access points.

Now ANZ Bank's secret plan to go cashless has been exposed by whistleblowers. News.com.au reported last week that:
 

"Several former ANZ staff have backed claims made by a whistleblower that the bank is deliberately pushing customers out of branches and using their absence to justify branch closures.

In an article published by news.com.au earlier this week, ex-staffer Phillip* said that during the time he worked at an ANZ branch in a metropolitan area, staff were directed not to serve customers and instead instruct them to do their banking at the onsite ATM.

He claimed the strategy behind this was to make branches look like they are serving less customers."
 

ANZ Bank's own employees say the bank wants to force customers to download the app and use cashless banking by withdrawing face-to-face services, so they can claim people want a cashless society.

"Just because Tap and Go is popular doesn't mean we want the cash turned off," said Jason Bryce, spokesperson for the Cash Welcome campaign.

"Australians are not using less cash, we're travelling further and paying more to access our own cash."

The latest RBA ATM cash withdrawal statistics show cash is still in demand, despite fewer places to access cash.

Australians made 260,000 more cash withdrawals in September, compared to August 2023. The total number of cash withdrawals has remained steady around 29 - 30 million per month for two years. "Banks often claim they are responding to consumer demand by closing branches and ATMs but the facts disprove that idea," said Mr Bryce. "The number of cash withdrawals has not changed significantly since the end of COVID lockdowns. "But the number of bank branches and bank-owned ATMs has has fallen dramatically. "So Australians are looking for cash and paying more to access cash than ever before," said Mr Bryce. "Meanwhile banks are falsely claiming that Australians don't want face-to-face banking services or access to their own physical money. "Their motivation is profit, from our fees and information, not responding to consumer demand. "My petition now has over 155,000 signatures and is growing every day - without the big marketing budget of the banks." https://www.change.org/BankingAndCashGuarantee "Other nations (like the UK, European Union, Sweden and states in the USA) protect their citizens' right to choose cash and now the Australian government must catch-up and also mandate cash acceptance, or require banks to provide us with access to our own cash," said Jason Bryce. APRA recently reported that Australia lost another 424 bank branches and 718 bank-owned ATMs in the last 12 months.

CashWelcome.ORG is a campaign supported by donations from the public and industry. We work in co-operation with the ATM Industry Association. More comments and information: Jason Bryce, Cash Welcome 0428 777 727 Jason@CashWelcome.ORG Sandra Smith, ATM Industry Association Sandra.Smith@ATMIA.com    0424 300 660

Key Facts:

Australians make about one million ATM cash withdrawals per day, unchanged for two years, while the number of banks and ATMs is falling dramatically.

About us:

CashWelcome.ORG is a campaign supported by donations from the public and industry. We work in co-operation with the ATM Industry Association.

More comments and information:

Jason Bryce, Cash Welcome 0428 777 727 Jason@CashWelcome.ORG

Sandra Smith, ATM Industry Association Sandra.Smith@ATMIA.com    0424 300 660

Contact details:

Jason Bryce

0428 777 727