The Reserve Bank of Australia reported this week that the number of over-the-counter cash withdrawals made in bank branches rose significantly in May to 1.9 million total withdrawals from 1.7 over-the-counter cash withdrawals made in April 2025.
The number of over-the-counter cash withdrawals has not fallen significantly since the end of the COVID pandemic in early 2022 (1.6 million over-the-counter cash withdrawals were made in January 2022).
The number of bank branches continues to fall rapidly. Last June 2024, there were 3360 bank branches in Australia, down from 4012 branches in January 2022 reported APRA.
"Bendigo Bank has recently closed ten regional bank branches despite branch traffic trending up in Australia," said Jason Bryce, spokesperson for the Cash Welcome campaign.
"The numbers are clear, banks can no longer claim they are 'responding to changing consumer behaviour' when the facts reveal more Australians are using branches now than three years ago."
"Banks need to stop pushing us away from cash, stop complaining about the cost of cash distribution and stop leaving communities without banking services."
Key Facts:
The number of bank branch cash withdrawals rose in May and are higher now than three years ago.
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Jason Bryce
Cash Welcome
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