Cashless society

[Value Collector]

When one bank does it and gets away with it, the others seem to follow.

Well someone has to cover the $410 Million cash handling costs, I have been saying here for ages cash is expensive to handle, and will need to have a charge applied eventually.

As you guys know quite credit cards processing costs are paid by people using card processing terminals, and are sometimes passed on to the consumer, why shouldn’t people using cash pay for the services they are consuming?

 

[Value Collector]

No comment from me on this action. Queue outrage though.

Commonwealth Bank to charge customers $3 'withdrawal fee' to access their own cash

The Commonwealth Bank has unveiled major changes to one of its main everyday account offerings, which will see customers charged $3 to withdraw their own money.

www.abc.net.au

It’s funny how they say “to withdraw their own money”

It’s like trying to spark outrage by saying “barbers are charging people a fee when they come in to get their own hair cut”

Yes it’s your money, but you are asking the bank to provide a service to you.

 

[Value Collector]

@embryo Nothing like greed when a thieving bank is involved

They spent $410 Million last year handling cash, I don’t think asking customers to pay something to help cover this cost is “thieving”

 

[moXJO]

If they weren't making billions already perhaps it would be more acceptable. But charging to take money out of the post office is a bit rich.

 

[Value Collector]

If they weren't making billions already perhaps it would be more acceptable. But charging to take money out of the post office is a bit rich.

The armed guards etc that need to work behind the scenes are real costs.

They are making billions from the other business units, but why should customers of the other business units subsidise the cash users?

 

[Craton]

My take is that banks manage the money one deposits to garner interest, irrespective of where the deposits come from (retail, business etc) and how that is done (loans, short term interest etc). How they manage our deposits is really up to them, we simply expect our money to be available when required or due.

So the banks earn money/interest on the depositors money. The banks recompense depositors by paying nominal and pegged interest rates.
That's the trade off for allowing the banks to "manage/hold" our hard earned.

When a bank makes, let's see: CBA made over $9.8b in profit in 2024, down about 6%, but that's neither here nor there is it?
Surely in the face of such profit, they can absorb the cost of money handling because really, this is the business they are in. It's the cost of doing business right?

Now if CBA was barely turning a profit, one could understand and even swallow the $3 slug.

As an aside, not that I've really thought this through and it's just a random musing. If the CBA is hurting so much why not go private and keep all the profit for itself, They'd be able to have the best xmas bonuses ever and, pay for that pesky cost of doing business in cash.

P.S.
Couldn't find how much it costs CBA to handle cash as per noted by @Value Collector

 

[farmerge]

They spent $410 Million last year handling cash, I don’t think asking customers to pay something to help cover this cost is “thieving”

Well, that's your opinion but not many others agree with you.

 

[Value Collector]

Well, that's your opinion but not many others agree with you.

Obviously people that are used to getting a service for free, get a bit touchy when they are finally being asked to pay for that service.

But, that is a long way from theft. I mean when a business asks a credit card user to pay a 0.5% surcharge do you count that as theft?

 

[Value Collector]

My take is that banks manage the money one deposits to garner interest, irrespective of where the deposits come from (retail, business etc) and how that is done (loans, short term interest etc). How they manage our deposits is really up to them, we simply expect our money to be available when required or due.

So the banks earn money/interest on the depositors money. The banks recompense depositors by paying nominal and pegged interest rates.
That's the trade off for allowing the banks to "manage/hold" our hard earned.

When a bank makes, let's see: CBA made over $9.8b in profit in 2024, down about 6%, but that's neither here nor there is it?
Surely in the face of such profit, they can absorb the cost of money handling because really, this is the business they are in. It's the cost of doing business right?

Now if CBA was barely turning a profit, one could understand and even swallow the $3 slug.

As an aside, not that I've really thought this through and it's just a random musing. If the CBA is hurting so much why not go private and keep all the profit for itself, They'd be able to have the best xmas bonuses ever and, pay for that pesky cost of doing business in cash.

P.S.
Couldn't find how much it costs CBA to handle cash as per noted by @Value Collector

Yes CBA is in the business or taking deposits and making loans etc etc, but the vast majority of that these days is done digitally, at very low cost, and where the costs are higher for example point of sale transactions, they pass the costs on.

The handling of physical cash, is very expensive. And it’s a shrinking number of people that use it, when everyone used it, the cost was lower on a per transaction basis and could be built into the running costs.

But now it’s getting more expensive on a per transaction basis due to decreasing volumes, and rising costs. And this small group of regular users shouldn’t expect to be subsidised anymore.

 

[qldfrog]

Umm... you do know that major Aussie banks allow crypto transactions and have ATMs that do the same right?

From Bitcoin.com and reads in part: -

I will respectfully disagree, in the same way it is difficult to access your own money in cash or outside australia above any significant level aka 1k a day.
It is actually very hard to use honestly earnt money stored in your own bank account and purchase crypto with it, most Australian big banks.. CBA for sure but even HSBC and definitely NAB do not allow you to transfer money to a crypto exchange so i have to go thru ETF or a BTC pseudo US company on the NYSE to play with crypto.
Ironically, these bastards allow you to get money from these exchanges....
2y ago i could buy some btc, eth or xrp in a matter of seconds, move funds from my big 4 bank account,via Oslo into my crypto exchange ,put up to $20k instantly, more via bpay or eft, and order my crypto..
Not possible anymore.
People have to realise they do not really own their money once in a bank
Anyone tried to send financial support to Assange a couple of years ago?
Yet Hamas and terrorists groups still get funded, drug dealers still buy Maserati cars but you and i can not do as please to legally spend they already taxed own fund as we please, not as the government in place please.
Anyone, feel free to DM me with a proper legal crypto exchange accessible to Australia banks with having to go thru the dark web

 

[Value Collector]

People have to realise they do not really own their money once in a bank

You definitely own your own money, but you are using a service, that has expensive running costs. Some one needs to pay for that.

If people pay goes in on Thursday and they withdraw it on Friday, the banks are losing money on them. And the rest of us are subsidising them, by being offered lower interest on deposits etc.

 

[JohnDe]

CBA have announced that they will charge a $3 fee for taking out cash at a branch or Post Office

Banks telling us that there is a cost in storing and distributing cash, that's fair and true. However, have they told us what the earnings on interest is of all that cash that they re-loan?

I'm sure that there must be some benefit for banks to hold our money, which should counteract the cost of distribution.

One of my customers has owns a couple of pharmacies with her husband, both in their early to mid 30's with no kids. The other day they told me that they don't trust banks and were digitally scammed not long ago and now are taking their cash out of the bank and converting to gold. When they want to buy something, they convert the gold to cash, no issues so far.

 

[Faramir]

CBA “pausing” their decision.

Commonwealth Bank pauses plans to charge customers $3 fee to withdraw cash

Australia's biggest bank has paused its plans to charge customers a $3 fee to withdraw their own money at bank branches around the country, a day after it was announced.

www.abc.net.au

 

[wayneL]

I'd like to know the bank's budget for implementing and managing their IT systems, versus handling cash.

 

[Value Collector]

Well, that's your opinion but not many others agree with you.

I took a closer look at the proposed change, and it’s actually pretty fair.

Basically all that $410 Million cash handling cost is mostly covered with account keeping fees, but not all customers paying those monthly fees use cash a lot, so they are subsidising the heavy cash users.

So to make the system fairer, the bank is reducing the monthly account keeping fee for every one, but adding a cash withdrawal fee.

This aligns the fees more closely to those using the services, so that people that don’t use cash as much aren’t subsidising those that do.

They actually did this 6 years ago on my business account, they eliminated the monthly fee, but limited the amount of free cash deposits and withdrawals I could make.

 

[Value Collector]

CBA “pausing” their decision.

Commonwealth Bank pauses plans to charge customers $3 fee to withdraw cash

Australia's biggest bank has paused its plans to charge customers a $3 fee to withdraw their own money at bank branches around the country, a day after it was announced.

www.abc.net.au

Yep, they are pausing for 6 months so they can contact each customer directly to explain that the account keeping fees are dropping, and the cash handling fees are being introduced.

They will use the 6 months to ensure each customers needs are met with the correct account.

 

[moXJO]

The armed guards etc that need to work behind the scenes are real costs.

They are making billions from the other business units, but why should customers of the other business units subsidise the cash users?

Because you are a big four bank.
Cash was factored in long ago. Now they are just gouging.

 

[moXJO]

Obviously people that are used to getting a service for free, get a bit touchy when they are finally being asked to pay for that service.

But, that is a long way from theft. I mean when a business asks a credit card user to pay a 0.5% surcharge do you count that as theft?

Do you honestly think they never charged in some form for cash after all these years?

 

[farmerge]

I took a closer look at the proposed change, and it’s actually pretty fair.

Basically all that $410 Million cash handling cost is mostly covered with account keeping fees, but not all customers paying those monthly fees use cash a lot, so they are subsidising the heavy cash users.

So to make the system fairer, the bank is reducing the monthly account keeping fee for every one, but adding a cash withdrawal fee.

This aligns the fees more closely to those using the services, so that people that don’t use cash as much aren’t subsidising those that do.

They actually did this 6 years ago on my business account, they eliminated the monthly fee, but limited the amount of free cash deposits and withdrawals I could make.

@Value Collector It may look fair to you, but the dickheads at Com Bank sure did an about face summersault today over that $3 transaction. It didn't take very long for them to realise that when people start saying they will walk with their money to another institution, then the penny drops and they wake up to themselves.
A complete farce with a mob of dickheads making a poor a financial decision.

 

[Value Hunter]

Umm... you do know that major Aussie banks allow crypto transactions and have ATMs that do the same right?

From Bitcoin.com and reads in part: -

You are not getting the bigger picture crypto is building out its own whole ecosystem. For example instead of borrowing from a bank in the future peer to peer lending on decentralized exchanges will take off disintermediate the middle man (banks).

Instead of using Western union or international wire transfers to send money overseas both of which are slow and have huge fees people will send Bitcoin to the other side of the world which takes 10 minutes and costs a few dollars.

Instead of using escrow services smart contracts will settle things.

The list goes on and on. Its still in the early stages but eventually a revolution is coming to the financial sector.