When it comes to settling the food bill or shopping at a retail outlet in Australia, cash is not king.
Cash payments represent just 6% of the value of point-of-sale (POS) transactions in Australia, according to a global report by the US-based financial technology company FIS.
The metric shows that Australians are among the least likely in the world to pay with cash, with Norwegians the only group spending less as a proportion of sales in the survey of 40 countries.
Australia had the lowest usage of cash in the Asia Pacific region in 2022, with New Zealand (7% of POS transactions), China (8%) and South Korea (11%) among the other heavy adopters of electronic payments, the report found.
“While cash is projected to decline in every market we cover, there are vast differences in cash use in individual countries, ranging from the regional high of 56% of 2022 POS transaction value in Thailand to the regional low of 6% in Australia,” the report said.
POS transactions refer to all face-to-face payments, typically made in-store.
Australians have been early adopters of electronic payment methods, especially as card technology has become more convenient.
While in-person card transactions used to involve inserting a bank card into a terminal and providing a signature or code, most payments now involve tapping a card or mobile device.
By contrast, in the US physical currency is still being used in sizeable sums, with 12% of the value of POS transactions still made in cash.
Dr Nathalie Collins, a senior lecturer at Edith Cowan University’s business and law school, said while most Australians were comfortable with electronic payments, many Americans were “unbanked” and preferred cash.
“There are plenty of people who do not want documented transactions in the United States,” Collins said.
“The unbanked population is enormous, compared to Australia, which includes undocumented workers.”
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Australians typically use debit and credit cards to pay for things, but digital wallets – using a financial transaction app – are increasing in popularity, accounting for 12% of the value of POS transactions.
Australia was also an early adopter of buy now, pay later services, which are similar to traditional layby schemes except consumers get their goods before paying for the item.
While Australians are increasingly shunning cash, the Reserve Bank recently noted that some people were hoarding $100 notes and not letting them go.
There should be about 18 of Australia’s highest value bank notes for every person in the country, but the physical cash is not flowing around the economy, according to the central bank.
The RBA suspects that it is being held as a store of value, even though holders of the physical money could generate reasonable interest if they put it into a bank account.
