Tiny WA pub makes big move as many businesses opt to ditch cash
A tiny pub in a remote area of Western Australia is drawing national attention - and for many Aussies, it’s for all the right reasons.
A small regional pub in Western Australia is pushing back against the ever-growing trend towards a cashless society in Australia.
As bank branches close around the country and many modern businesses choose to embrace digital payments, regional small businesses are remaining unaffected by the pressure to follow the trend, according to the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI).
“Despite the shift towards cashless transactions in modern business, cash remains a popular payment method, especially in regional areas,” an ACCI spokesperson told 7News.
The owner of the small regional pub pushing back is Sam James, who has been running the King River Tavern as a cash-only pub for 15 years.
“It’s kind of strange how everybody’s jumping up and down about (being cash-only) now,” she told 7News.
The decision to become a cash-only pub followed a severe weather event, which caused enough damage to force Ms James to temporarily close her pub’s doors.
During the closure Ms James added up the numbers and decided it was financially best to close the restaurant.
After the pub’s restaurant area closed Ms James made the decision for the venue to become cash-only, saying it was the preferred payment method in the bar area.
On top of this the EFTPOS equipment itself incurs serious fees.
“I actually had to pay to give (the EFTPOS machine) back,” she said.
Given this was 15 years ago, Ms James said the transition at the time was not as strange as it seems today.
“Back then, there were still a lot of people using cash,” she said.
Given the regional location of the King River Tavern, the cash-only policy works better than it would for a city-based pub.
Cash-only venues also come with their own challenges, particularly as many bank branches shut down across the country leaving people in regional areas to travel long distances just to get cash out.
Ms James overcame this issue by installing an ATM in her pub, saying the fees for it are far cheaper than an EFTPOS machine, which can cost up to $300 a month to run.
“Not a lot of businesses would be able to go cash-only,” she said.
“Just find out what’s best for your business and do what’s best for you.”