Opinion: A Cashless Society

2020 introduced an influx of EFTPOS sales. However, even prior to the pandemic, my advice to everyone participating in markets was to purchase an EFTPOS machine.

Since the day that I started preparing to attend markets, an EFTPOS machine was among the first things on my list of supplies to get. The reality is that we are living in a digital age. EFTPOS is convenient and, in many ways, safer to travel with. So many people use it, and for a small business, it is important not to push away potential sales.

People often ask what forms of payment we accept, and my usual response is: “Cash, card and first born. But the first two are preferred.”

Over the years, I have seen many people lose sales because of their refusal to get an EFTPOS machine and their interested would-be customers don’t have any other way to pay at the time. Talk about disappointment all round!

But with everything in life, anything that has a list of ‘pros’ also has a list of ‘cons’ as well. And impact of EFTPOS machines has been a near-silent and slippery slope that we as a society have found ourselves caught up in.

With the global Square outage in September 2023 followed less than a year later by a worldwide Microsoft outage, it has proven that cash is far more valuable than it has been treated in recent years.

At the time of the outage, I witnessed countless businesses completely unable to take cash AND debit payments, as the technological crash had completely locked up their cash registers. And in the weeks that followed, I witnessed local businesses still having difficulties with their machines.

While credit and debit cards are convenient to carry, in an emergency situation, it is not a viable option to solely rely on. EFTPOS payments are entirely reliant on a system that is not perfect – there will be electrical and internet outages that people and businesses cannot prepare for or counteract.

And its unpredictability isn’t even the worst thing about EFTPOS transactions.

The truth is that when using EFTPOS, there is always a middle man that snatches up a percentage of the sale for themselves. For a huge corporation: it doesn’t matter. To them, the penalties applied to EFTPOS sales are mere drops in the ocean. However, the impact is much more meaningful to a small business.

The benefit of any and all cash sales is that what you pay is what the business gets – saving you both the money that would have otherwise been going to someone who has no part in the transaction.

But it all runs deeper than that.

Fees for making card sales are riddled in everything; it’s a punishment in its own right. Buying groceries, making doctor’s appointments, booking tickets online at a cinema. It is in the best interest of everyone to keep cash alive because it is not as easily manipulated by those who are interested in getting rich and keeping the little people – that’s you and me – behind.

There is a world in which convenience can operate our currency: and that world is not ours.

I’m not a saint, and I’m certainly not here to preach. I’m human, same as you, living in the same money-hungry economy. I still use EFTPOS – such as for big purchases where I may not have enough cash.

But cash is endangered.

Wherever possible (especially when supporting small or paying for my market stalls) I endeavour to pay with cash. That way, I know 100% of the money is going to the people who worked hard to receive it. And I am proud to say that I have seen an influx of people using cash for transactions as well!

Cash is king. Let’s keep it alive together.

What are your thoughts on this matter? Do you consider cash to be the ruler of all forms of currency? Or do you feel there is a way that EFTPOS transactions can improve to better smaller communities?

Kimberley (they/them)

Accessories by Antoinette