War on cash continues in MSM

JulieW

JulieW

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Cybersecurity expert Nigel Phair said the number of contactless card accounts in Australia grew 42 per cent between 2014 and 2015.

He found just under a third (31 per cent) of tapped transactions were below $10, while more than two-thirds (67 per cent) were for under $25.

Contactless payments were found to cost nine cents less per transaction than contact payments and that's without factoring in the time saved.

A contactless payment takes on average about 20 seconds whereas a contact payment takes 38 seconds, which Mr Phair said can add up.

"As a two-second change in tender time implies a $0.01 change in merchant costs, small efficiency gains or delays can make a large difference to the total resource cost of the transaction and to a merchant's bottom line," he said.

In some instances, contactless payments can even be cheaper for businesses than accepting cash.

"On a per transaction basis, cash appears relatively inexpensive compared to other payment methods and this may explain why some merchants promote the use of cash," Mr Phair said.

"However, the cost of cash is not trivial; measured as a proportion of the sales value at the average transaction size, the cost of a cash transaction is around 2.5 per cent.

There are other costs associated too, he said particularly for small businesses.

"The time associated for consumers with using cash is difficult to measure, but can include, for example, the time taken to obtain cash from an ATM or branch and often not knowing how much to withdraw, leading to over compensating, which may result in over-spending before making a cash payment to a merchant," he said.

"Due to the extraneous time costs involved, it costs small business around four times as much per transaction to accept payments than big business.There are also hygiene factors for the food industry when preparing food then dealing with notes and coins."

For now, Canberra businesses still accept cash although more and more customers are choosing to tap and pay.

"We probably see 80 per cent card sales and 20 per cent cash sales. The transaction is super quick although the banks charge us for it which is why we charge a fee [for contactless payments]," Penny University part-owner Ellie Raymond said.

"We still see a lot of cash, usually we get a lot of $50 notes which we have to find change for," TwoForJoy supervisor Courtney Kane said.

TwoForJoy barista Luka Markulin said the convenience for their customers outweighed any additional costs.

"It's why I've got it. You don't have to sort out change, the most difficult part is splitting tables," he said.

The report also found fears of electronic pick-pocketing were largely unfounded and the rate of fraud was actually decreasing when compared to the growing number of contactless transactions.

"For every transaction made with a contactless card, there is a discreet authentication code that changes after each transaction. Without the proper code the transaction will not be authorised," Mr Phair said.

Even if a fraudulent transaction occurs, Mr Phair said many banks and card providers offer zero liability for cards reported stolen.

But although the banks provide a safety net, he stressed the need for personal responsibility.

"People need to treat their cards like cash when they're out and about shopping," he said.

http://www.theage.com.au/business/retail/the-real-cost-of-carrying-cash-20160414-go60cf.html
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SO hang on, is it more expensive for businesses to handle cash, or to accept card payment?

If cash is more costly to handle etc, why on earth are we charged c/c surcharges?

Both payment methods cost some small percentage of the total, and it can easily be factored into the quoted price. Charging a fee to take our money can't really be justified under any circumstances.

And if we start seeing 'cash payment charges' across the board there will should be rioting in the streets!
 
"... usually we get a lot of $50 notes which we have to find change for," TwoForJoy supervisor Courtney Kane said.

Gosh darn it... what a major headache!!!! [sarcasm]
 
I really doubt he will find many small business owners that agree. In fact, a bar down the street got rid of their eftpos machine and brought in an ATM because they were sick of people "tapping" for the smallest of purchases.
 
Recent headlines are quite clear, cash is history, every transaction you make will be logged with your bio-metric identification.

"Brisbane cashless cafe out to prove model cheaper, more efficient way to run business"
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-07-04/new-cashless-cafe-opens-brisbane/7566360

"Why Australia will be one of the first economies to go cashless"
http://www.afr.com/personal-finance...irst-economies-to-go-cashless-20160624-gpqyfh

"No small change: moving to a cashless society is the next step for the Australian dollar"
http://www.theage.com.au/comment/no...or-the-australian-dollar-20160215-gmv11x.html

"Welcome to a cashless future where retailers recognise our faces"
https://www.theguardian.com/small-b...cashless-future-retailers-recognise-our-faces

Negative interest rates are the future, cash will be trashed, gold bugs and silverites will be rounded up for re-education.
 
HoldMeTender said:
SO hang on, is it more expensive for businesses to handle cash, or to accept card payment?
If cash is more costly to handle etc, why on earth are we charged c/c surcharges?
Click to expand...

Because the gummnit made it legal to do so.
IIRC it used to illegal to pass on the credit card surcharge at one point.
And the credit card merchant cost is real per transaction and quantifiable, labour/time etc not so easy
 
The cost of receiving money from a customer is non-zero, whatever method you do it by.

Contactless payments just aren't there yet, largely because they rely on infrastructure that can and does fail (like for BankWest today actually.

I used to know a heap of people who would boast about "going cashless". Most of them now keep a $50 note jammed in the back of their wallets after suffering a bank outage.
 
BBQ said:
Any local business that forces plastic cards on me sees the last of me.
Click to expand...

Sounds good to me.

If enough people take this kind of stand then they will fail. Unfortunately cash lovers like us might be in a very small minority :/
 
Big A.D. said:
I used to know a heap of people who would boast about "going cashless". Most of them now keep a $50 note jammed in the back of their wallets after suffering a bank outage.
Click to expand...

A combo of smaller notes is much more useful.
I don't know why everyone doesn't. They weight nothing and take up practically zero room.
 
The war on cash continues. Make lots of links from cash to criminals, terrorists, drug traffickers, human slavery and tax evaders then politicians will pass new laws killing cash and bankers can finally give us the negative interest rates they have been eager to implement.

"Cash is for criminals: Why we should scrap big notes
Beyond the more heinous crimes of human and drug trafficking and terrorism, some earners hoard their money to avoid tax."
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-10-21/world-awash-with-cash-fuels-illegal-activity/7933250
 
bubbleboy said:
The war on cash continues. Make lots of links from cash to criminals, terrorists, drug traffickers, human slavery and tax evaders then politicians will pass new laws killing cash and bankers can finally give us the negative interest rates they have been eager to implement.

"Cash is for criminals: Why we should scrap big notes
Beyond the more heinous crimes of human and drug trafficking and terrorism, some earners hoard their money to avoid tax."
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-10-21/world-awash-with-cash-fuels-illegal-activity/7933250
Click to expand...

It's the ABC so of course they push the Marxist agenda.
 
Shaddam IV said:
bubbleboy said:
The war on cash continues. Make lots of links from cash to criminals, terrorists, drug traffickers, human slavery and tax evaders then politicians will pass new laws killing cash and bankers can finally give us the negative interest rates they have been eager to implement.

"Cash is for criminals: Why we should scrap big notes
Beyond the more heinous crimes of human and drug trafficking and terrorism, some earners hoard their money to avoid tax."
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-10-21/world-awash-with-cash-fuels-illegal-activity/7933250
Click to expand...

It's the ABC so of course they push the Marxist agenda.
Click to expand...

So tired of seeing this old furphy endlessly recycled. Do some research. The ABC News has a slightly Right Wing bias, otherwise it's pretty much even handed at the ABC, even the Q an A circus, despite the Left Wing bias of some of the presenters, (whom the ABC inspects regularly to ensure the bias doesn't happen btw).
 
Cashless business works better for me.

1) reduces employee theft
2) reduced administration time/duties
3) quicker to process
4) reduces errors

if my business loses power, a non functioning eftpos machine is the least of my problems.
 
JulieW said:
Shaddam IV said:
bubbleboy said:
The war on cash continues. Make lots of links from cash to criminals, terrorists, drug traffickers, human slavery and tax evaders then politicians will pass new laws killing cash and bankers can finally give us the negative interest rates they have been eager to implement.

"Cash is for criminals: Why we should scrap big notes
Beyond the more heinous crimes of human and drug trafficking and terrorism, some earners hoard their money to avoid tax."
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-10-21/world-awash-with-cash-fuels-illegal-activity/7933250
Click to expand...

It's the ABC so of course they push the Marxist agenda.
Click to expand...

So tired of seeing this old furphy endlessly recycled. Do some research. The ABC News has a slightly Right Wing bias, otherwise it's pretty much even handed at the ABC, even the Q an A circus, despite the Left Wing bias of some of the presenters, (whom the ABC inspects regularly to ensure the bias doesn't happen btw).
Click to expand...

I have never heard anyone argue that the ABC has a right wing bias. Very odd.
 
The ABC charter requires balanced viewpoints, to which end they measure political bias of guests and commentators. The research showed that there were more right wing commentators and guests shown on the news than left wingers.

I don't think the ABC is left motivated or right motivated. I think they fulfill their Charter.

The argument against this is that the Liberal Party continually tries to defund the ABC whilst the Labor Party appears to hold funding at the levels previously cut by the Liberal Party. Though that could be the Liberal Party bias toward privatisation by stealth.
 
JulieW said:
The ABC charter requires balanced viewpoints, to which end they measure political bias of guests and commentators. The research showed that there were more right wing commentators and guests shown on the news than left wingers.
Click to expand...

"They measure"? "The research showed"?
 
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