Commonwealth Bank of Australia’s top technology executive has suggested that Australia will be a cashless society in the coming years, with the possibility that customers could soon be charged to make banking transactions in cash.
The comments from chief information officer David Whiteing came at a speech at an industry event in Sydney, in which he discussed various tech-led issues rapidly changing the local business environment.
Mr. Whiteing said the bank’s retail banking Chief Matt Comyn recently visited banking executives in Scandinavia, who expressed incredulity at the amount of cash still being used in Australia. He also pointed to the rapidly declining use of cheques in Australia as an example of a generational shift, as more convenient electronic forms of payment become widely used. He said cash appeared to be heading the same direction.
“In Scandinavia, if you carry cash they think of you as a criminal and wonder if you are trying to hide something,” Mr. Whiteing said. “We all know people that still write cheques… It is a really expensive payment, so we don’t like it…
We see a declining use of cash year on year in Australia and the million-dollar question is; at what point do you stop it because of the cost?”
The idea of Australians getting rid of cash has gathered steam in recent times. In January UNSW economics professor Richard Holden wrote in the Australian Financial Review that he believed Australia would be one of the global leaders in the trend. He suggested the Reserve Bank’s national payment platform would make it much more convenient for citizens to let go of their cash.
The government would also love it, as it would potentially reap millions in taxes from previously undeclared cash-in-hand payments and limit the possibilities for money laundering and individuals benefiting from the proceeds of crime. It would, however, be controversial from a privacy perspective, with citizens effectively unable to make payments without being captured in an itemized system.
Mr. Whiteing suggested the switch to a cashless society would be unlikely to occur right away, and couldn’t be imposed on citizens without consultation. “At the moment it is OK, but there is probably a conversation that we need to have in a few years with our customers, about if you really, really want that [cash], then you are going to have to pay,” he said.
Australia’s cashless move is prophetic. It is much more difficult to put sanctions on individuals who do not comply with coming worship laws if they can still use cash.
“And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.” Revelation 13:17.