Technical glitches left Australians without their money and good reason Australians need cash
Thousands of Australians were left empty-handed thanks to ANZ’s technical woes and it’s reiterates why cash will never die.
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Thousands of Australians were left empty-handed when ANZ recently stuffed up the processing of payments.
People were outraged — and rightly so — because they were delayed getting their hard-earned cash because of technology.
A glitch on Friday the 13th — there’s some irony to that date — left many without their monthly pay packets in time for the weekend and when they need cash the most.
In irate comments on social media, some people complained about being unable to afford necessities, including food, petrol and nappies.
But it made me stop and think: yes, the situation was crap for a lot of people but it showed many are sailing close to the wind financially.
These are a couple of leaves out of the financial book I think people should pull.
1. CASH IS FAR FROM DEAD
We are constantly told that we are moving to a cashless economy and more and more people are doing away with handling notes and coins.
But please, spare me.
This is a recipe for disaster.
Relying on technology is certainly not foolproof.
I was completing home renovations last year when I went to my plumbing store to pick up goods costing a few thousand bucks.
The store had a National Australia Bank payment machine and this was completely useless when NAB’s terminals went into meltdown.
Payments, no matter who you banked with, couldn’t be processed.
Consequently I had to burn down to the nearest ATM — not a NAB ATM though — and withdraw the money in cash to pay for my goods.
This proves cash is king.
It also reiterates the need to always have some cash on you, because when you least expect it your card might not work or isn’t accepted.
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2. HEDGE YOUR BETS
Don’t be loyal to one bank.
Make sure you have accounts with a least a couple of different institutions.
If one goes belly up and payments or money can’t be accessed, you have a plan B.
I have accounts with multiple banks, so if something goes wrong with bank A I can turn to bank B or even bank C or D.
There’s nothing worse than having no safety net to fall back on.
Many Aussies affected by the ANZ stuff up had no back-up plan to go to, and that’s a frightening thought.
3. SAVINGS
Financial institution ME’s latest Financial Comfort report last month showed only one in three Australians could raise $3000 in the case of an emergency.
This should blow your socks off.
If people don’t have a few thousands bucks stashed away what do they do in an emergency?
I can see why payday lenders circle and those horrid credit cards are given a serious workout. Having a little bit of money stashed away certainly makes it far easier to sleep at night.
Originally published as Technical glitches left Australians without their money and good reason Australians need cash
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