Australian restaurants are going cashless
It’s a big trend, and it’s inevitable – more Australian cafes and restaurants are now accepting card payments only.
The bottom line is that cash is no longer king in our economy. With the growth of contactless payments and wearable technology, experts are now predicting that Australia will be a cashless society within the next 10 years.
Indeed, figures from the Reserve Bank of Australia show that by 2013, cash payments had dropped to 60 per cent and card usage had risen to 33 per cent.
And many restaurants are now going cashless.
One is the popular Pope Joan eatery in the inner Melbourne suburb of Brunswick East.
After the third robbery in 18 months, cafe owner and chef Matt Wilkinson has put in a cashless policy, all explained on the menu. But there’s a bit of wiggle room for customers.
"Any regulars can set up an account if they've got a problem," Wilkinson told the Sydney Morning Herald.
"There will be a glass jar and you've got to have correct change and if you don't, nearest to it because there will be no change.
"If it's a little bit under, so what. If it's a little bit over, I'm sure you'll be OK with it. But I'm not going to carry cash in a business anymore."
He says it will save money in insurance premiums, point of sales systems and employing people just to handle the folding stuff. In any case, he says, it makes sense with more customers paying by card than cash.
"I think it speaks for itself when nearly 80 per cent of your customers use cards anyway. It's a no-brainer and anyone who does whinge – thank you for your custom, but there are plenty of other places to get a coffee and something to eat,” he said.
Other eateries are doing the same thing.
Bar Americano owner Matthew Bax, also in Melbourne, says going cashless makes sense.
"Tips suffer a bit I think under the payWave culture, but I don't think that is necessary a cashless bar problem,” Bax told the Sydney Morning Herald.
"I believe in a cashless economy, it just seems to make sense; it's convenient, it's efficient and it's honest."
Still, there are some places that are sticking to cash.
Declan Lee, co-founder of gelataria chain Gelato Messina, says there is no way his place will reject cash.
“We're a high volume, low value order business so when you go to our stores and you buy a scoop for $4.80, you don't always think to put it on a card," Messina told the Sydney Morning Herald.
"We just have heaps of small transactions and it costs us heaps of money whereas cash doesn't cost us anything and that's why I like it."
by Leon Gettler, July 28th 2017
