R.I.P. Cashless Society

The value of banknotes on issue in Australia has reached $100 billion for the first time ever according to data released by the Reserve Bank of Australia.

The value of total Australian banknotes on issue rose $328 million last week to $100.153 billion. This is the first time the value of Australian physical currency circulating in the community has breached $100 billion.

This new record amount of physical currency shows consumers trust and rely on cash more than ever before.

"After a dip in the value of notes on issue in 2020, Australians have returned to physical cash during 2021 as the most reliable, private, safe and surcharge-free way to pay and save," said Jason Bryce spokesperson for the CashWelcome.org industry campaign.

"Serious outages in bank and payment systems have left shoppers and businesses stranded and reinforced that physical currency is the only truly reliable way to pay.

"Australians have killed the cashless society myth stone dead by investing $100 billion into cold hard cash," said Mr Bryce.

"There is no possibility that $100 billion of physical cash in the community can ever be completely recovered by the RBA. The endless predictions of an imminent cashless society are myths promoted by institutions that profit from cashless transactions"

New research released by the European Central Bank has reinforced advice from the Bank of England and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that “cash is safe to use.”

“… cash does not contribute to the spread of COVID-19.” reported ECB Paper No 259. (p.27)

Read more from Cash Welcome here.