Macquarie Bank ditches cash at all branches and goes 'completely digital'

One of Australia's largest banks is ditching cash at all of its branches and shifting entirely to 'digital-only' services. 

Macquarie Bank customers will no longer be able to access over-the-counter services or order new chequebooks from May 20.

The bank's automated telephone banking service and chequebooks for new cash management accounts have already been slashed.

All cash and cheque transactions are gone, and Macquarie customers' access to NAB ATMs will end by November 1.

The announcement is the latest hit for those who prefer to pay with cash, to avoid records being kept of all their transactions.

In April, thousands took part in a 'Cash Day Out' protest and rushed to withdraw money from ATMS to protest against Australia's slow but inexorable transition to a digital-only country.

Macquarie cited a shift in customers’ banking habits as the reason behind their change towards digital-only banking.

The bank said it is 'committed to transitioning to completely digital payments' as it's a 'safe, quick, and more convenient' way to transact.

Banks also claim that transporting and distributing cash for a diminishing amount of users was costly, despite the colossal profits made by major banks. 

Finance expert Sarah Wells saying the move 'is the next step [towards] a cashless society.'

'My biggest concern is when one starts the rest will follow,' she told Daily Mail Australia at the time.

ANZ, Commonwealth Bank and NAB have already begun phasing out cheques while Bankwest prepares to shut down 45 branches in Western Australia by October.

Ms Wells said this is a move Macquarie 'may wish to reconsider'.

'For some businesses this may cause them to need to change banks,' she said.

Businesses bear the cost of having electronic payment machines, and must pass on a fraction of every transaction to the bank rather than keeping it all.

Banks refusing to use cash effectively force their business customers into the same, as there is nowhere to deposit cash payments.

That particularly hurts hospitality businesses who report a decline in tips when people pay by card. 

Those who want cash retained in the economy were urged to withdraw cash at ATMs across the country for 'Cash Out Day' last month to protest the nation's haste towards wholly cashless transactions, and show there is still demand for notes and coins.

The campaign was promoted on the Facebook page of Cash Welcome, a non-profit group campaigning against a cashless economy.

It saw customers lining up outside the big four banks - Commonwealth Bank, NAB, Westpac, and ANZ - to withdraw cash.

Campaign manager for Cash Welcome, Jason Bryce, told Daily Mail Australia the event was a 'huge success' and said banks need to listen to Aussies who don't want a cashless society.