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Coles is facing backlash from customers over a new store where self-checkouts don’t accept cash.
The recently opened store in Brisbane has a row of self-service checkout machines that all say ‘card only’.
A video of the cashless vending machines has been posted on social media.
“Here we are in Coles, new Coles, no ATMs at all,” the narrator says.
This sparked a call for a boycott of shops that do not accept cash.
Self-service checkouts at Coles supermarkets are increasingly accepting card payments only
‘Eeveryone only needs to use cash. If they don’t accept cash, don’t buy from them,” one said.
“Everyone must leave groceries at checkout and drive away,” said another.
A third pointed out that supermarkets were cutting staff.
“It’s bad enough that companies like Coles have raised their prices. I know they’ve cut their employees’ working hours, but now there are more self-checkouts… Fewer jobs .”
However, others thought this trend was inevitable.
“Money goes away, get used to it. Unfortunately, cash is mainly used by criminals and tax evaders. more businesses are refusing to do cash transactions,” another added.
A Coles spokesperson said there were no cashless stores, although the self-checkout machines only accepted cards.
“There are still options for our customers to pay cash in all of our stores,” they said.
In 2021 Woolworths was forced to abandon a cashless supermarket trial which was unpopular with a number of shoppers.
The trial, which included 14 ‘metro’ stores in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane, was sold as a way to make shopping ‘as seamless as possible for busy inner-city shoppers’.
The abandonment of cash has angered some customers who say the supermarket must accept legal tender.
However, this proposal met with fierce resistance.
“I refuse to shop at any of your card-only stores,” one customer wrote on Woolworths’ Facebook page.
“Cash is legal tender and I do not support a cash ban and will take my money elsewhere.”
Ian Henschke, chief defender of National Seniors Australia, called the lawsuit a “form of ageism” as many older customers still prefer cash.
Woolworths Metro chief executive Justin Nolan admitted the trial was early.
“While nearly all Metro customers choose to pay by card, cash remains extremely important to those who don’t, for a variety of reasons that we haven’t fully appreciated,” he said. he declares.
“Based on our customer feedback, we can see that we have exceeded the current cash community expectations and will be ending the trial.”
Australia is rapidly moving towards a cashless society.
The Reserve Bank estimated that at the end of 2022 only 13% of transactions were in cash, a halving in just three years since the start of the Covid pandemic.
One of the main advantages of using cash only means that fees are avoided.
When a customer uses Tap-and-Go banks, a fee ranging from 1.1% to 2% of the purchase price is charged, while for EFTPOS a maximum fee of 0.5% is charged.
Australian bank branches are increasingly limiting cash withdrawals, and customers are now advised to call ahead if they wish to receive a large sum from a teller.
ANZ and Commonwealth Bank NAB have announced that they are no longer allowing cash withdrawals over the counter at some of their outlets as more banking is done online than in cash.
Woolworths tried cashless supermarkets in 2021 but dropped the trial amid customer anger
Critics have warned that the move to cashless banks could cause significant harm to older people and people with disabilities who still rely on branches and physical cash.
The number of bank branches in Australia has fallen by around 30 per cent over the past five years.
And vending machines have shrunk even further, with figures showing they fell from a high of 14,000 in 2017 to around 6,000 last year.