ANZ Stops Cash Withdrawals in Response to Public Push

ANZ Australia, Commonwealth Bank and NAB have plans to limit the number of bank outlets in the country.

CBA and ANZ have indicated that they have shelved the rationalization of the banking services until the senate committee inquiry is complete.

The closure of some of the cited bank outlets will disadvantage customers from the rural communities as well as the elderly people.

A senate committee is carrying an inquiry into the effect of bank closures on the economy and rural communities.

Keywords: ANZ Australia, ANZ AU, biggest banks in Australia, cash withdrawal, banks of Australia, Banks in Australia

Introduction

The developments taking place in Australia shows changes that are occuring in the banking sector where many banks have stopped handling cash in some in-branches. As a result, some analysts believe that the society is slowly moving towards a cashless society that is likely to adopt digital money. In this article, we focus on the reasons several big banks are closing some branches and its impact on the society.

ANZ to stop handling cash at some branches

There has been public outcry in Australia when ANZ AU, one of the biggest banks in the country, revealed its plan to stop handling cash on some of its in-branches across the country. Its main reason for doing that is a decrease in the volume of cash transactions in these branches.

ANZ confirmed this development to NCA NewsWire when it said that it will strip some banking services in some of its branches. Specifically, some branches will not allow customers to physically withdraw or deposit cash. However, such branches will have staff members who will help customers to withdraw or deposit cash using Smart ATMs and coin deposit machines.

ANZ - Globalcapital

An ANZ spokesperson said, “At these branches, cash and cheque deposits and cash withdrawals can continue to be made by using our Smart ATM and coin deposit machines and we have staff on hand to help customers that might be using them for the first time.”

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) confirms that the use of cash in the country was decreasing. In one of its surveys, RBA found that there was a decrease in the use of cash in retail payments, from 69% in 2007 to 27% in 2019.

Related article: How are cryptocurrencies currently regulated in countries around the world?

The survey said, “Cards are increasingly being used for lower-value transactions, reflecting the adoption of contactless ‘tap and go’ functionality at the point of sale. Although the share of payments made in cash continued to fall, cash was still used for over one-quarter of consumer payments.”

Also data from the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority indicates a sharp decrease in the number of bank outlets that provide cash to the customers. It stated that the number of outlets that handle cash decreased from 4,323 to 4,014 as of 30 June 2022.

Currently, customers make most of their payments using direct online transfers, mobile payments and Tap-and-go cards. An ANZ spokesperson said “Our customers are changing how they bank, with more than a 50 per cent decline in in-branch transactions across ANZ over the past four years. The majority prefer online and mobile banking methods.”

Reaction of the society to ANZ’s plan

Many customers and commentators were shocked by the development and called the relevant authorities to intervene for the sake of some vulnerable members of the community such as the elderly.

As an example, Steve Worthington, a professor at Swinburne University technology said that such an action is exclusionary. He explained to 7NEWS: “Senior citizens, new migrants, people who are disabled, they do need face-to-face help, there’s a danger here of excluding some elements of our society.”

The rural Australians are some of the people who are greatly affected by this move. This is because many of them need to pass some mountains and travel long distances to go to the nearest bank outlets. As a result, many people and organizations have pleaded with these banks to think of the country people and their communities.

One commentator said, “The Black Spur is very windy and steep, has a lot of wildlife crossing it, has buses, log trucks and many tourists … using it. The road is often shrouded in fog, covered in ice.” His view is that the banks need to let people access their cash at their nearest branches without hassles.

Jim Seymour, a former resident of Tenterfield in northern NSW said, “Please, I beg of you, do not allow this matter to be swept under the rug, for the sake of this nation’s future.”

Another customer said, “Any bank that follows this path will lose customers and eventually go broke … it is bad enough that they are closing branches.”

In the meantime, the senate is making an inquiry on the closures of rural and regional bank outlets by ANZ and other banks of Australia. A senate committee started the inquiry in February which will end in December 2023. This committee aims to find the impact of the closure of bank outlets and the effects of stopping face-to-face banking services on the economy and the welfare of the customers.

Recent announcement: ANZ becomes first Australian bank to mint stablecoin

Plans of other big banks (Westpac, NAB and Commonwealth Bank)

The closure of some banking outlets is not confined to ANZ alone as other banks in Australia have promised to do the same.The Commonwealth Bank also planned to shut down its Junee branch. However, it has already shelved the plan to shut any branches as it awaits the outcome of the Senate committee inquiry on regional bank closures.

Commonwealth Bank - ABCnet

A CBA spokesperson said, “Following consideration of a request from the Senate Committee, CBA will not close any regional branches while the Inquiry is underway in 2023. As an additional sign of good faith, while the Inquiry is underway in 2023, CBA will postpone the closure of two branches [including Junee] already announced.”

Although Westpac, one of the other big banks in Australia, earlier on announced its intention to close some branches in Queensland, Victoria, NSW and South Australia, it told NCA NewsWire that currently it does not have plans to shut down any of these branches. Its spokesperson said, “Our customers can access over the counter cash services at all Westpac Group branches five days a week and at more than 3500 Australia Post outlets nationwide through our partnership with Bank Post.”

The National Australia Bank (NAB) announced its intention to close some of its bank outlets in 2022. The targeted outlets are located in Narrandera, Corrimal Lavington, Maroubra, Figtree and Cronulla. Recently, NAB said that it will continue with its planned closures.

Krissie Jones, NAB retail utive, said, “We will be continuing our branch reshaping process during the Committee’s deliberations in 2023, which will include closures, consolidations and new investments to meet our customers’ needs.”

Digital Money or Banks- who will win

There is a rise in the use of digital money around the world. In simple terms, digital money is any form of payment that takes place on the internet. Digital money has no physical counterpart such as notes and coins. examples of digital currencies are cryptocurrencies and central bank digital currency (CBDC).

Digital money has its own advantages and disadvantages.

One of the main advantages of digital money is that of fast transactions. Someone can transfer funds to another person in another country within minutes. This is different from banks that may require several days for the money to reach the intended destination.

With digital money you do not need to have physical wallets to store your cash. One needs to manage the money online using his/her digital accounts.

Digital money doesn’t need intermediaries who assist in processing the transactions. Individuals simply hold their funds in accounts and use it the way they want.

However, digital money has its disadvantages. The main problem of digital money is that of hacking. Hackers can easily steal the money from the wallets. There is no possibility of hacking physical cash. It is important to note that the best modern society would need both digital and physical money.

Conclusion

The major banks in Australia namely ANZ, NAB and CBA intend to rationalize their banking services. In some of the cases, they intend to close the outlets completely while the others intend to stop physical cash withdrawals and deposits. Currently, ANZ and CBA have stopped their bank rationalization processes as they wait for the outcome of the senate committee inquiry.