Aussies welcome government’s proposed change to cash mandate amid ‘disputes’ between retailer, customers

Aussies have responded warmly to the government’s proposed mandates on cash, after it was revealed major businesses would need to accept cash when selling essential items. Under the proposed new mandates, major businesses will need to offer both cash and credit card payment methods to customers. The government will mandate that businesses must accept cash when selling essential items, with appropriate exemptions for small businesses. Jason Bryce, from the awareness group Cash Welcome told 2GB, these changes were an important first step with Aussies still needing the option to pay with cash. “It’s good news that they are talking to us about mandating cash acceptance because Aussies thought up until a few years ago that it was the law,” Mr Bryce said. “It has led to a lot of disputes at the point of sale between consumers and retailers.” He says cash needs to be accepted in essential areas of the economy due to the potential issues of using cards, including a scheduled outage over New Year’s Eve. Customers of Australia’s major banks using eftpos on their mobile phone or wearable devices could be left without access to payments. An automatic update is being rolled out to the 19.1 million eftpos cards on mobile wallets. It is likely to see 60,000 Aussies unable to use their card payments without reinstalling their card on a device. “There is an outage everyday such as a shop that can’t accept eftpos. They can’t build a reliable, private, surcharge free alternative to cash, so they need to make sure cash is accepted,” Mr Bryce said. In the first step towards new regulations the government released a consultation paper on Friday gathering insights and feedback on the cash acceptance mandate. Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones said cash was a “lifeline” for many Australians. “Mandating cash for essential purchases means those who rely on cash will not be left behind,” he said. “The consultation focuses on the needs of those who rely on cash, including people in regional areas and those unable to use digital payments, as well as the impact on businesses, particularly small businesses.” Mr Bryce said while cafes, takeaways, bottle shops and hairdressers could avoid being hit by an incoming cash mandate, it is important larger businesses offer the service. Among those that made the essential list are supermarkets, pharmacies, dentists, GPs, hardware stores, insurers, pet stores, vets, service stations and mechanics. “I don’t want to tell small businesses what to do but I want to get into the business of making sure cash is circulated. “The big retailers, the ones we need to go to live including groceries, medicine and petrol, if they are required to accept cash it will be out there we can use it if we need too,” Mr Bryce concludes. The consultation period closes February 14 next year.