Bank cash withdrawals may need a booking as digital age develops

News that some ANZ bank branches have gone cashless has sparked customer anger, and changes are coming for everyone.

Need cash? Don’t expect to be able to just walk into your bank and withdraw it?

The rapid rise of digital banking – and corresponding collapse in cash usage – means some Australians wanting to get their own money from their bank will have to order it in advance.

In a week where social media exploded over a Queensland woman complaining she was unable to withdraw $3500 from her ANZ branch because it no longer carries cash, consumers are being urged to phone ahead if they need a significant cash sum.

However, cash remains vital for many consumers, particularly people with security concerns around online banking and shopping, and Australians withdrew $8.5 billion from ATMs in April alone, Reserve Bank figures show.

RateCity said while ANZ and NAB were no longer allowing cash withdrawals over the counter at some branches, the other two major banks had confirmed their customers could still get cash via tellers.

“The idea that ANZ and NAB customers have to search online for clues as to whether their local branch can or can’t hand out cash is nothing short of ridiculous,” RateCity research director Sally Tindall said.

“Some Australians opt for a big four bank because of the benefits branches can offer, including the ability to take out larger than usual amounts of cash when they might need it,” she said.

“However, in the case of a large withdrawal, it can sometimes be worth calling ahead to the branch to make sure they have enough cash on-site.”

Banks already have daily limits on ATM withdrawals, typically $1000 or $2000 a day, and an Australian Banking Association spokeswoman said banks had different withdrawal limits depending on the account.

“Customers seeking clarity on their bank’s withdrawal guidelines should contact their bank or refer to the terms and conditions for their account which the customer should have received when they opened the account,” she said.

Canstar group executive financial services Steve Mickenbecker said the disappearance of cash from bank branches was part of the shift to digital banking speeding up, and “I can understand why it’s happened”.

“It’s not surprising that they are holding a lot less cash – it’s a security risk and dead money sitting in a vault somewhere,” he said.

Mr Mickenbecker said people wanting to withdraw a large lump of cash should contact their bank first “as a precaution”.

“If it’s time sensitive, phone the branch and say you are wanting to make a withdrawal of X dollars, and will the cash be available on Tuesday?” he said. “For a long time people had to do that if they were taking out foreign currency, but it has become like that with our own currency.”

Mr Mickenbecker said banks were steering away from ATMs, and reducing their costs by sharing ATM networks.

“We will get to a point where it will be very difficult to transact in cash,” he said.

A report released last month by the Australian Banking Association and Accenture found 98.9 per cent of all transactions were now taking place digitally, with huge growth in mobile wallets on peoples’ smartphones.

It found the value of mobile wallet transactions jumped from $746 million in 2018 to $93 billion in 2022, a 12,400 per cent increase.

More than 15.3 million cards were registered to mobile wallets in 2022, up from two million in 2018.

“Cash is no longer king, but it isn’t dead in the water either,” RateCity’s Ms Tindall said.

Originally published as Bank cash withdrawals may need a booking as digital age develops