Australia battles cashless shift; businesses face $25,000 fines if they don’t accept cash, aiming to preserve physical money circulation.

Australian businesses and companies could soon cop huge fines if they don’t accept or carry cash. Politicians Andrew Gee and Bob Katter have introduced a bill that aims to keep physical money in circulation.

With the rise of digital payments and wallets, the use of cash has been declining rapidly over the last few years. But plenty of Aussies still love and depend on cash and they’ve told Yahoo Finance the slow transition to a more cashless society is impacting their ability to pay for essentials.

Gee and Katter’s bill hopes to prevent that from happening.

The Keeping Cash Transactions in Australia Bill 2024 was submitted to parliament this week and the MPs believe it’s “crucial in protecting the availability and acceptance of cash payments across the nation”.

“Many people, across both my electorate of Calare and around our great country, hold concerns and fears that the use of cash for transactions in Australia is being phased out and will soon disappear,” said Gee said.

au.finance.yahoo.com/news/major-fight-against-cashless-revolution-threatens-aussies-with-25000-fine-231536295.html#:~:text=The%20bill%20calls%20for%20businesses%20that%20provide%20goods,cash%20if%20the%20transaction%20isn't%20more%20than%20$10,000.