‘Boycott’: Online fury at Froth Brewery Perth’s no-cash rule

A decision by a WA brewery to not accept cash has infuriated some with calls for a boycott, accusations it’s “woke” and others asking if it’s even legal.

A craft brewery in Perth has suffered a beer drinkers’ backlash after it refused to accept cash.

Froth Craft Brewery, founded in Exmouth in the state’s north, has just opened a branch at North Beach, near Karrinyup.

The company said it aimed to serve “handcrafted beer, creative food pairings, culture and art” in a “family-friendly restaurant/microbrewery/live music venue”.

The venue is also cash free. While many couldn’t care less, and the use of physical cash is declining, some took Froth to task for failing to accept physical cash at its Perth location which opened on Friday.

“No cash as payment is a joke I was looking forward to coming in for a few froths but that left a sour taste in my mouth. To not accept legal tender is ridiculous,” said one miffed punter on the Froth North Beach Facebook page.

“No cash? No go!” said another.

Froth Brewery’s new outpost in Perth. Picture: Facebook.

On the popular Hey Perth Facebook group, a post mentioning the brewery’s cashless stance was met with a number of riled responses.

“No cash = no business from me,” said one.

“Looks good but unfortunately I won’t be able to attend due to the no cash rule.”

“We’ll all be laughing at you when the next online banking or telecommunications outage happen,” wrote another.

“Venues not accepting legal tender should be boycotted”.

One person claimed that he and five other people were definitely going to go to Froth Brewery but were so appalled by the no cash rule that they took all their banknotes – which totalled $560 – and went elsewhere.

“We’ve seen this place and were excited to go … not now”.

Nup, none of that.

Yep, that’s the one. Picture: Tracey Nearmy/Daily Telegraph.

Claims not accepting cash is illegal

Someone chimed in saying not accepting cash was “woke nonsense”. No further explanation was given as to why paying by card was “woke,” or why banknotes were the opposite of “woke”.

Several people said that it was illegal not to accept cash. That is not the case.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission states “businesses do not have to accept cash” and can choose which payment method they prefer.

The only proviso is that consumers are made aware of what payment methods are accepted prior to making a purchase.

Reasons for businesses to stop using cash include a security concern of keeping large amounts of money on the premises and the hassle involved in getting notes and coins to a bank to deposit.

Declining use of banknotes

Refusing to accept cash will undoubtedly inconvenience some customers who don’t have a card, only have cash on them or use physical banknotes as a way to budget.

Nonetheless, it’s a dwindling number with the use of cash plummeting as Australians have embraced cards and, increasingly digital technology, to pay.

The Reserve Bank of Australia said in the three years to 2022, the use of cash payments by number of transactions had fallen from almost one third to just 16 per cent.

“The decline in cash use between 2019 and 2022 partly reflects the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on people’s payment behaviour, which accelerated the decline that had been underway since at least 2007, the central bank stated.

The use of cash for smaller payments – such as a beer – had seen the biggest drop. In 2022, for transactions under $10 cash was used for half of payments while in 2022 it was only one in four.

But while cash may only make up around 15 per cent of transactions, some commentators suggested the number of people that would give Froth a wide berth would be far higher than that.

“Probably 50 per cent of people would avoid,” said one commenter with another saying as many as 60 per cent of Froth’s potential customers may now stay away because it doesn’t accept banknotes.

It’s not clear how these figures were calculated. It’s equally possible some people that normally use cash will just buy some beers on a card if there’s not a cash option.

Aussies are using les and less cash.

Cashless

A conspiracy theory is doing the rounds that governments and business want a cashless society so they can theoretically track all spending and restrict what people can buy.

The theory doesn’t set out, however, why big brother would want to know you’re buying a beer.

And it ignores the fact that far from going cashless, the RBA has printed one billion new banknotes since 2018 and has in the last few years introduced new and revamped banknotes.

In 2021/2022, 431 million new banknotes were printed in Australia.

Appearing before a Senate inquiry in September, CommBank’s chief executive said hanging onto banknote cost list customers money.

“We estimate that continuing to support distribution and availability of cash costs CBA approximately $400 million each year — which works out to roughly $40 for every one of our 10 million customers. Many of our customers don’t use cash though — and these customers cross-subsidise those that do.”

Some punters doubt it will make any difference to the bar. (AAP Image/Tracey Nearmy) NO ARCHIVING

‘You’ll be buying beers there soon’

The push back against those frothing at the mouth over a brewery not accepting cash was just as virulent.

“I’ve been working in a cashless venue for nearly six years. Everyone says exactly the same thing at the start but trust me you will all be buying beers there soon,” said one customer.

Another doubted whether the boycotting customers would make any difference to the bar’s turnover.

“Less than 15 per cent pay by cash … I really don’t think the small number of people refusing to go there because of that will affect their sales.”

“Packed and queues on opening night. Great beers, pizzas and views. I’m sure there are plenty of alternative places for the cash kings,” said another.

But for others there was a clear benefit to those who only want to pay by cash staying away.

“Stoked all the no cash people aren’t going. No line up for the pint I’ll tap and go for.”

News.com.au has contacted Froth Brewery for comment.

Originally published as ‘Boycott’: Online fury at Froth Brewery Perth’s no-cash rule