Australia Rushing To Become World’s First Functionally Cashless Society

Australia Rushing To Become World’s First Functionally Cashless Society

Stefan J. Bos

Australia has begun unleashing a digital revolution to possibly become the world’s first functionally cashless nation by 2025 after a digital identity (ID) document scheme will be rolled out across the country by July, Worthy News learned Tuesday.

Yet not everyone is happy to jump on board the fast-moving digital ‘train’ with residents living outside metropolitan areas and elderly Australians expressing concerns about these developments.

The government argues that the digital ID removes the pain of handing over physical copies of a driver’s license, passport, or birth certificate, making setting up a new bank account easier. The center-left administration of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese claimed that digital ID is a “secure, convenient, voluntary, and inclusive” way for Australians to verify their identity online.

However, critics say a digital ID can result in errors and bias, aggregation of sensitive personal information, hacking and identity fraud, and denial of access to essential services and entitlements.

There is also concern that homeless people, as well as other vulnerable people, including many of the elderly, will be left out of the digital transformation in which the government invested more than half a billion US dollars.

The digital ID is only the first step towards a cashless society. Macquarie Bank, Australia’s 5th largest bank, is officially transitioning to digital payments by November 2024.

Money experts in Australia also warned citizens that banks could start “Cash rationing “at cash dispensers, also known as ATMs. Several other banks soon followed, with Bank Commonwealth, NAB, and ANZ banks stopping handling cash in a few branches and announcing closing more ATMs and branches soon.

The move will be made because of lower demand for banknotes, bank officials said. “I’d say we’ll be functionally cashless by the end of 2025 — it’ll just be a complete rarity,” said Richard Holden, professor of economics at UNSW Business School at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia.

“But unless the government gets involved in accelerating the process, I think we’ll be actually cashless by 2030,” he stressed, with cash transactions reportedly comprising roughly six percent of the total.