It isn't the government driving toward a cashless society, at least not overtly, but nonetheless we are heading that way as a result of changes in people's habits. The use of credit cards, internet banking, tap 'n go payments and even apps using smartphones to pay has overtaken cash, and the trend continues.
According to the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA), the use of cash has fallen sharply with the central bank's most recent consumer payments study revealing the number of cash transactions plunged by more than a third between 2007 and 2013. While cash payments accounted for 70 per cent of all transactions in 2007, they fell to just 47 per cent in 2013.
http://www.afr.com/personal-finance...economies-to-go-cashless-20160624-gpqyfhSee also
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MAKE no mistake. We are moving at lightning speed towards a cashless society.
Australians have always tended to be early adopters of technology, and this seems to be true of technologies such as on-line and contactless transactions.
No doubt our government will be keen to see the trend continue, as will the banks. Among other things there are savings in relation to producing and handling and securing cash, but more to the point there are huge opportunities for tracking everything we do, when every transaction is traceable - when, where, what you spent it on or were paid for, everything. That is the really scary part.
FWIW Citibank recently announced that its branches will no longer deal in cash, or have any cash on hand in branches in Australia.
