Woolworths reveals looming $200 cash withdrawal limit

Woolworths will soon reduce its cash withdrawal limit to $200, as well as introduce other major changes to its cashout policy.

Woolworths is about to make some major changes to its cash withdrawal policy, including reducing its limit to $200 and only offering the service to paying customers.

A Woolworths spokesperson told news.com.au it will begin rolling out a reduced cash withdrawal limit from mid-September.

“This is due to the lack of cash being used in transactions, with the majority of customers opting for card-only transactions such as Everyday Pay,” the spokesperson said.

“We understand cash remains an important payment option for some customers and that’s why we’ll continue to offer the ability to withdraw cash”.

The weekly planner document sent to Woolworths staff. Picture: Reddit

A photo posted to Reddit of a “front of store weekly planner” document sent to staff shed further light on the changes.

As well as the maximum cashout amount changing to $200 from Monday, customers will see the “withdraw cash” button removed from the self checkout screens.

The document state customers will also need to purchase an item to get cash out. The changes were needed to reduce the safety risk to store teams posed by large cash volumes, it read.

“As fewer customers choose to pay with cash, we have seen an increase in the funds being ordered to meet cash withdrawal requirements, adding additional costs and time (to staff),” the document read.

The move divided opinion online, with some people saying it was getting harder and harder to get cash out.

The moves attracted mixed reactions on Reddit, with some people supporting them.

“This one is understandable. Less people paying by cash, less cash in the till to give out,” one person wrote.

Another comment read: “my work hasn’t taken cash for a couple years, and not having to deal with floats & cash reconciliation really does free up time”.

One user said they “don’t see the big deal”.

“It’s not a bank. I would understand if they didn’t allow it at all,” they wrote.

Echoing that sentiment, one comment read: “supermarkets are not setup to replace people withdrawing money from bank branches and ATMs. Up to the banks to provide customer service”.

Several people commented that they assumed supermarkets had already made these changes.

But not everyone was happy about it, hoping it did not signal a wider move towards cashless supermarkets.

One frustrated person wrote it would “suck if they stopped doing it (providing any cashout)”.

“There are barely any ATMs around anymore and they all want to charge you money to take out your own money,” they wrote.

A Coles staff member wrote that their store has had a $200 limit for a “fair while”.

“There’s no banks nearby so everyone comes to our store for cash and we would run out frequently,” they wrote.

Originally published as Woolworths reveals looming $200 cash withdrawal limit