The Reserve Bank is giving rural towns the opportunity to bid to trial either local cash depots with automated cash banking facilities or a security van service.
The bank’s director of money and cash Ian Woolford said retailers and their customers in rural areas were frustrated by the lack of banking facilities. People still valued cash and the bank wanted to see if better local cash infrastructure would help.
“Since announcing the trials in December we’ve received nearly 80 expressions of interest. Towns need to have populations between 1000 and 10,000 residents and to have lost most or all cash banking services to be considered eligible for the trials,” Woolford said.
Applications to take part in the trials close on June 7.
Meanwhile, the bank’s two-yearly survey of cash use and payment options found 57.2% of respondents used cash for everyday purposes last year, down from 60.4% in 2021 and 95.8% in 2019.