Australian ‘Big Four’ bank ANZ halts cash withdrawals from many branches

ANZ

The move comes as Australians continue to reduce their usage of cash and bank branches, but has sparked fears that the death of cash is near.

ANZ, one of Australia’s “Big Four” banks, will cease facilitating withdrawals and deposits from a number of its Australian branches as it looks to push its customers toward using an ever-dwindling number of ATMs and deposit machines.

The decision has received pushback, with critics such as Patricia Sparrow, CEO of the Council on the Ageing, telling The Australian that the change could disproportionately affect older people who are less capable of going digital. Others have suggested it would make fiat users more susceptible to technical issues. The move has also renewed fears of a push to eliminate cash and that cash could soon be replaced by central bank digital currencies (CBDCs).

The end of cash is near.

They are trying to go all digital, and then bring in the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) to be programable so they can control how you spend your money.

Eventually they will be able to make your CBDC money expire or disallow certain products. pic.twitter.com/8O27nn4iYe
— Wall Street Silver (@WallStreetSilv) March 29, 2023

In response to questions from Cointelegraph, an ANZ spokesperson said that the affected branches are all metropolitan branches that have ATMs and deposit machines nearby and that the move was partially prompted by in-branch transactions decreasing by more than 50% over the past four years.

The development comes as Australia gradually transitions to a cashless society, with the percentage of retail payments made with cash falling from 59% in 2007, to just 27% in 2019, according to a March 16 bulletin from the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA).

The RBA noted that the results from its 2022 survey will be available later this year, but added that the COVID-19 pandemic had only accelerated the trend, with businesses also contributing to the shift:

“Furthermore, a substantial share of merchants indicated plans to discourage cash payments at some point in the future.”

The RBA also pointed to a reduction in ATMs and bank branches around the nation, with the number of bank branches falling by 30% since 2017 while ATMs numbers fell by 25% since 2016.

One of the major concerns with CBDCs replacing cash is how they might affect individual freedom and privacy, as cash transactions offer anonymity and the ability to make transactions without leaving a record.

A CBDC pilot program is currently underway in Australia, with an update expected around the middle of 2023, and one of the ramifications identified by the RBA was that it could displace the cash Australian dollar.

In an emailed response to questions from Cointelegraph, a spokesperson for another of the Big Four banks, NAB, allayed these fears somewhat, saying:

“NAB still handles cash at our branches and we have no plans to change. Cash will continue to play an important part in Australian society for as long as our customers want it to.”

The other two banks in the Big Four, CBA and Westpac, did not respond to questions from Cointelegraph by the time of publication, but Westpac told The Australian that it also had no plans to wind back access to cash through its branches. A CBA spokesperson was slightly more ambiguous in their response, however.

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Aussie banks ANZ and NAB won’t ‘endorse’ retail speculation on crypto

ANZ

Executives from two of Australia’s “big four” banks have said they won’t allow their retail customers to trade crypto with ANZ, adding they’re happy they didn’t “go head long” into a cryptocurrency offering.

Executives at two of Australia’s “big four” banks have ruled out allowing retail customers to trade cryptocurrency on their platforms, with one reasoning that customers don’t understand “basic financial well-being.”

Speaking at the Australian Financial Review Banking Summit on Tuesday Maile Carnegie, executive for retail banking at Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ), said that from speaking to retail customers, she believed “the vast majority of them don’t understand really basic financial well-being concepts.”

“Are we really going to make it easier and less friction and implicitly endorse speculating on crypto when they don’t understand basic financial well-being? The answer was no.”

Carnegie said ANZ had considered a cryptocurrency product from as early as 2017, adding she was “happy we didn’t go head long” into the offering.

Also attending the summit was Angela Mentis, chief digital officer of National Australia Bank (NAB), who was asked if NAB would consider offering crypto trading. She answered “not in the foreseeable future and not for retail” but added there are already applications for blockchain technology for institutional clients.

In March, ANZ became the first bank in Australia to mint an Australia dollar (AUD) pegged stablecoin called A$DC, and NAB is also gearing up to launch its own stablecoin, which is expected to be operational by the end of 2022.

Both stablecoin projects from the big banks will initially be offered to institutional clients seeking an on-ramp for crypto investments. The pilot transaction of A$DC, for example, was a 30-million-AUD transfer.

The only big four bank with plans to launch a retail crypto trading product is the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA). At the summit, its CEO, Matt Comyn, said despite facing challenges, it was still its “intent” to launch the service.

The CBA revealed plans to enable crypto trading in November 2021 by partnering with the Gemini crypto exchange, with limited trials beginning shortly after. But in April, news emerged that the Australian Securities and Investment Commission had tied up the launch with regulatory red tape, citing concerns about consumer protections, which prompted the CBA to start planning a second pilot of the product.

In late May, the CBA put its plans for the second pilot on hold indefinitely and cut off crypto trading to those in the first round of testing, with Comyn saying at the time the bank was still waiting on regulatory clarity.

At the summit, Comyn added that if it were to proceed with the offering, the bank would look to restrict trading to those “who understand the risky asset class.”

Hitting back at the comments from the banking executives, Ian Love, founder and CEO of crypto investment firm Blockchain Assets, tweeted:

“How will we ever reduce wealth inequality when our regulatory system has financial discrimination at its core? It’s time to remove the ‘Sophisticated Investor’ discrimination rules that advisors use to hide behind and allow everyone access to financial advice and services.”

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