A Townsville KFC goes cashless, but ATM withdrawals increase

After a spate of robberies, one Townsville KFC has gone cashless, but cash is still king for some.

Australians are actually using ATMs more in recent months but one Townsville fast food store has gone cashless.

KFC Kirwan ditched the analog dosh on Monday, meaning you’ll need to pull out your card to try the Colonel’s 11 herbs and spices.

The seven other KFCs in Townsville still accept cash, and the Kirwan store was repeatedly robbed in recent months.

When approached, KFC declined to comment.

While the move means cash can’t buy KFC in Kirwan, the Reserve Bank of Australia says ATM withdrawals increased 1.6 per cent between May and June this year.

Kirwan KFC went cashless on Monday, the other seven KFCs in the city still take cash.

At the other end of the spectrum, one well known Townsville restaurant still only takes cash to this day, however its owner declined to comment, only saying, “cash is king”.

The average Australian made eight ATM withdrawals in 2022, the RBA says.

The number of ATM withdrawals – nearly 30 million a month – halved since a decade ago, but stayed steady since 2021.

Money Link ATMs owner Heath Green said withdrawals had increased steadily during the past six months.

Mr Green runs the fixed and temporary ATM business in Townsville with his wife.

“Countless” times a day business’ communications, EFTPOS and point of sale systems went down with technical issues, he said.

“It is then that businesses have no choice but to return to the one currency that never goes down. Cash.”

Natural disasters, online-facilitated marketplace sales and even money for the tooth fairy were examples of the necessity of cash, Mr Green said.

Australians withdrew $8.5BN from ATMs in April.

“A lot of people find it much easier to budget using cash as opposed to tapping a card and losing track of your spending. You are much more aware when you physically hand over a note,” he said.

Reserve Bank of Australia research and data does show a strong long-term decline in the prevalence of cash.

The share of in-person transactions made with cash halved, from 32 per cent to 16 per cent, during the three years to 2022, the RBA says.

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 the RBA’s first Consumer Payments Survey in 2007.

Mirani MP Steve Andrew sponsored a petition this year calling for a law to make refusing cash illegal. It’s only the Commonwealth parliament that legislates currency, coinage and legal tender. Picture: Liam Kidston

However, earlier this year One Nation Mirani MP Steve Andrew sponsored a petition that garnered 11,811 signatures on the issue.

The petition was calling to state parliament’s attention that a number of businesses and councils had gone cashless.

“This policy is discriminatory and denies people the right to choose how they wish to pay for goods and services,” the petition says, before going on to call for legislation which would make refusing to accept cash illegal.

In response last month, state treasurer Cameron Dick said the Commonwealth parliament had exclusive power to make laws about currency, coinage and legal tender, as per the Constitution.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission says businesses do not have to accept cash, but should make that clear to customers.

Originally published as A Townsville KFC goes cashless, but ATM withdrawals increase