Heeding the call to Keep Cash

The message from National Seniors members is clear—we want to keep cash as an accepted way to pay for goods and services. 

National Seniors has been closely following a worrying trend over the past few years—an escalated rate of bank branch closures, a sharp reduction in the number of bank-operated ATMs, and a growing preference among big businesses for digital payments. 

We’ve been covering developments in our newsletters and on our website for a long time, but the issue caught the attention of the nation’s media earlier this year when the Federal Member for Kennedy and Parliamentary Friend of Seniors Co-Chair, Bob Katter, was unable to purchase a meal using cash at a cafe in Parliament House. 

At the time, Mr Katter received support from Speaker of the House, Milton Dick, who pointed out that cash is legal tender. Although that is the case, there is no law to stop businesses from insisting on electronic payments alone. 

This is not only inconvenient for people who prefer paying in cash, it can bring commerce to a complete halt when digital systems fail.

Software failures and malevolent hackers have succeeded in closing down businesses and online systems. The CrowdStrike outage in July closed major supermarkets, with customers abandoning their grocery trolleys because there was no way to pay. 

Nevertheless, the march towards a cashless society is continuing.

In some regional and remote areas, cash is almost non-existent. But many people are pushing back. 

National Seniors’ stance is that banknotes and coins ought to be accepted alongside electronic payments. 

Through our Keep Cash campaign, we are supporting our members with news and information and in material ways, including free Keep Cash window and bumper stickers.  

Businesses can contact us to receive “We Accept Cash” stickers, which many shops are proudly displaying in their windows or at point-of-sale. 

Karen Furnivall, National Seniors’ community engagement manager, says branch members around Australia “feel very strongly about keeping cash accessible and accepted in our society”. 

“They are eager to participate in the campaign and have been busy distributing the retail stickers, putting the bumper stickers on their cars, and lobbying their local MPs and councillors.” 

Members of the Port Macquarie/ Hastings Branch in New South Wales kicked off the campaign, successfully getting retailers on board, including everyone from the local butchers and bakers to the trophy maker. 

“The Caboolture Branch in Queensland is so passionate about the campaign they ran out of the original batch of Keep Cash stickers and have requested another 100 retailer stickers,” Karen says. 

Many of the 150 members of the Kalamunda Branch in Western Australia proudly display Keep Cash bumper stickers on their cars, promoting the campaign in eastern Perth. 

Branch members in Toowong, Brisbane, discussed the campaign with their local councillor, who then shared the Keep Cash campaign on social media. 

“The Toowoomba Branch presented a petition to our CEO, Chris Grice, in support of the Keep Cash campaign,” Karen says. 

“The 61 members who signed the petition expressed their deep concern over the move towards a cashless society. Their petition stated that many seniors rely on traditional banking methods, such as bank books and cash payments, and are uncomfortable with ATMs and online banking.” 

Signatories of the petition urged decision-makers to reconsider this shift and engage in meaningful conversations with senior citizens before finalising any decisions. 

Karen says, “Support for the campaign has exceeded our expectations, and demand for the stickers has meant we have had to place three additional reprints already.” 

To join the Keep Cash campaign, or find out more about it, visit nationalseniors.com.au/keep-cash

This article is featured in National Seniors Australia’s quarterly member magazine, Our Generation. 

Become a member today and receive a yearly subscription to Our Generation digital magazine as part of your membership, along with exclusive discounts, competitions, branch access and more! 

Your membership directly funds our advocacy and research work that benefits older Australians including fixing pension poverty, tackling health care costs, and improving aged care.