[Jan Fisher]

Figures from the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) show a massive amount of bank branches and ATMs have closed over the past 12 months.

APRA’s latest findings, covering the 12 months leading up to June 2023, show 424 bank branches or 11 per cent of Australia’s overall branches, have disappeared.

About a quarter of those closures were in rural or regional areas, a trend which is sure to accelerate the lack of access to banking services for these areas.

During that period, more than 700 cash machines were also removed. Since 2017 more than 60 per cent of Australia’s cash machines have been shut.

The continuing issue has prompted a Senate inquiry into bank closures in regional Australia.
Lobby group Cash Welcome Australia founder Jason Bryce told 2GB said despite the bank’s claims, it’s ‘not consumer led’.

“They’re trying to herd us away from something that is essentially a publicly owned piece of economic infrastructure – the cash that’s issued by the Reserve Bank of Australia,” he told 2GB.

“We all love to tap or use our card; it’s convenient, but everybody at some time needs cash,” he said.

“Millions of Australians, many of them vulnerable, rely on cash every single day.
“(They don’t have) a right to herd us into a private system and charge us fees.”

Do you still use cash, or is it becoming harder to come by?

[Rod63]

Jan!!!

A massive “number” of bank branches, NOT “amount”.

They are separate, discrete items which can be counted so it’s “number”.

Amount is used for non-countable quantities eg amount of water, amount of care etc.

[Robert Henry]

WE all need cash at some point in our lives this is just a con by the Banks to reduce staff/increase profits even more. They aren’t satisfied with the Billions they are making now, they want more. I logged on to my Bank the other day and the website had no phone number no BSB number no external A/C
number as it used to.”Don’t bother us! Just put your money in so we can lend it out at exorbinant rates and we can make more Billions and give you Bugger all Interest.It’s another Bank Con!

[Cosmo]

We’re really in a Catch 22 on this one. Our local bank sub- branch closed years ago and was replaced by a bank ATM. This has now been replaced by a commercial/generic ATM which charges $3.00 per withdrawal. At the same time more businesses are charging a card fee. Lower income people who are more likely to use cash and withdraw small amounts are hit harder by the fixed ATM fees. The attraction of visiting a bank branch is not what it was, more systemised, lower quality staff working for banks which rip-off long term loyal customers.
I like to use a mixture of card, cash and bank transfers but the banks have a vested interest in eliminating cash and are persuing their own agenda in making it harder and more expensive to access.

[Jacka]

Love and used cash regularly, always have always will. For the sake of the general community it should be credit cards that are being phased out, not cash. Nobody ever got scammed out of cash online or by phone have they. You don’t pay massive fees on cash do you. You should spend what’s in your pocket not in the never never. So if the General Australians Public weren’t so lazy, could do their sums and didn’t wanted to get Robbed Blind for Convenience, this subject would not even be up for contention. So when you look at your bank account online and it reads ZERO, remember this. JACKA. PS. Also I have no idea what the comment by ROD63 means, could someone please enlighten me.

[Marten]

I have experienced no problems for many years using my card exclusively; most times I do not carry any cash at all. It is so much quicker and I cause no hold-ups at super markets or elsewhere paying for merchandise. Overseas it is particularly noticeable how most shoppers use cards only. Many supermarkets now use the immediate pay method when selecting an article. It also diminishes shoplifting to a large extent.

[Author]

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