‘Cash is king’ proponents call for boycott of proposed cashless hospitality venue

Among the many battles quietly raging as digital technology disrupts the retail and hospitality sectors one stands out: physical cash versus digital transactions.

Many businesses are slowly doing away with accepting cash altogether, which has miffed many Australians and given rise to Facebook groups that regularly call for the boycott of such businesses.

The latest casualty in this saga is Ms Peacock Restaurant & Bar in Eynesbury, Victoria.

A week ago the restaurant took to its Facebook page and announced the venue will stop accepting cash from June 24. This sparked furious comments criticising the restaurant’s move with many calling for a complete boycott.

Part of the Eynesbury Quarter operated by Resimax Group, Ms Peacock has been operational for four years. Responding to users’ comments on Facebook, the restaurant said “Thank you for your comments. We hear you and understand your concerns about going cashless. As technology evolves, we are moving towards cashless transactions for better efficiency and security”.

However, that wasn’t enough to subdue riled-up users who’ve left the lowest-rated reviews on the business’ Facebook and Google pages. Many users said the business had lost them as a customer, with one user commenting “What kind of feedback requests to take away a payment method? Was it the lady who has to wait an extra 20 seconds so the customer can find the correct change…”

Speaking to SmartCompany, Josie Ludwig, the director of financial and operations at Resimax Group, revealed that in fact, all businesses located in Eynesbury Quarter, including Ms Peacock would be going cashless from June 24.

“The decision to go cashless at all businesses within Eynesbury Quarter, including Ms Peacock, was not an easy one, and was based on multiple factors,” Ludwig said.

“The operational cost savings associated with going cashless is much higher than the extra fees we will incur by accepting card payments only. The savings will allow us to maintain our quality of service and keep our prices as low and affordable as we can for customers, despite costs increasing continuously at a rapid rate since over the past few years.”

Asked about the users’ reaction to the news, Ludwig said, “We do recognise how deeply our community feels about our decision and understand that it will be an adjustment period for the business and customers. It’s for this reason we have given our customers ample notice on the change”.

Ludwig further shared that only a small percentage of customers at the venue use cash to pay for their meals and the change would also have other benefits: “After analysing transaction data, we found that only 11% of our Eynesbury Quarter customers pay with cash now, with the majority paying through card transactions. We won’t be charging any plastic card transaction fees like many other businesses do, and see this as a long-term benefit for our customers”. 

“Financial researchers have predicted that the move to cashless in Australia is inevitable, and we’ve seen many major venues move towards this structure in the past few years, such as the MCG, Melbourne Zoo, and major restaurants in Melbourne,” Ludwig added.

While the business stands by its decision, many users are still leaving critical comments on its social accounts. 

Cash usage on decline

Businesses in Australia are under no legal obligation to accept cash as a mode of payment. While most businesses continue to accept cash payments, its overall usage and acceptance have declined in recent years. 

This is also noted by the Reserve Bank of Australia in its 2022 Consumer Payments Survey. The report found that the “share of in-person transactions made with cash halved, from 32% to 16%, over the three years to 2022”. 

The circulation of hard currency has fallen so far that Armaguard, one of the nation’s premier armoured money-moving services, last year announced it would need $190 million to stay operational.

It rejected a $26 million bailout put forward by the big banks and key retailers earlier this year.

Queensland holiday hotspot Hamilton Island had also previously faced calls for a boycott after outspoken members of the cash preservation movement discovered the holiday hotspot has gone without cash for years.

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