On John Street in Sydney’s Cabramatta, cash is still king. The main strip, flush with hole-in-the-wall eateries, is bustling in the early afternoon. A butcher painstakingly collects a dozen or so coins in exchange for a cut of meat, picking up the fiddly 5¢ pieces that have slipped onto the meat display counters.

Plenty of shops have signs outside warning that they do not accept credit cards – cash only, please. Others, like eatery Sen Viet, say they have Eftpos before rummaging through boxes to bring out a disconnected machine. Almost every transaction is made in cash, even at the few vendors who accept card payments with a hefty surcharge. “Ninety per cent of customers always pay cash,” says Pok’s Sweets owner Ngoun Viengkhou.