Cash – Don’t leave home without it
If giant financial institutions can’t guarantee access to our money and reliable payments 24/7/365 they have to stop closing ATMs and branches. This week Commonwealth bank told stranded customers to seek out an ATM and withdraw cash.
That’s the bank that abandoned my local shopping centre, Yarraville, when they closed their branch and closed two ATMs, leaving hundreds of elderly pensioners behind and saying things like “we’re supporting customers to transition to our app, Netbank, cards and phone payments.”
When I have cash in my pocket, I’m in charge. I can’t get caught out by high card surcharges or system outages. Cash is private and great for budgeting.
There’s a lot of talk about “going cashless” but phone and card payments have information that can be used by marketing companies and lenders can use my data to assess my credit applications.
I used to tap, tap, tap my phone and card to buy everything and I lost track of my spending. The best way to budget AND retain a strong, resilient economy is to support cash. Join the thousands of Australians standing up for our right to choose how we pay.
| Say No to the Cashless Society. https://www.change.org/saynotocashlesssociety |
Jason Bryce, Freelance Journalist 