Tasmanians do not want a cashless society, citing the privacy and sense of security provided by cash as key reasons to keep it, in addition to its advantages for small businesses.
The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) says Tasmanians continue to have good access to cash even as electronic and online payments are becoming more popular and overall movement of banknotes in the community has reduced. In fact, the RBA notes, the total value of banknotes in circulation has doubled in ten years, even though cash is increasingly used ‘for precautionary and store-of-wealth purposes’.
Some leading figures in commerce have suggested this decline in active usage will continue, but even they acknowledge the essentiality of cash. Michael Bailey, Chief Executive of the Tasmanian Chamber of Commerce says: “There will always be a place for cash, but the reality is that we’re living in a digital, online world and we will need to adapt to that.”
Representing the Small Business Council of Tasmania, Robert Mallett pushed back against the assumption that cashless transactions are preferable, saying ‘any benefits to business of going cashless are minimal.’
