According to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO), it appears that being a cash-only business may have a direct impact on a merchant’s reputation. In a recent report on research commissioned by the ATO and conducted by Colmar Brunton, it was pointed out that Australians have a negative view of cash-only businesses. Speaking of the real cost of cash to a business, Assistant Commissioner Matthew Bambrick had this to say:
“The real cost of cash to business seems to be twofold. Consumers are twice as likely to associate ‘cash only’ as negative rather than positive … being cash-only may have a direct impact on reputation. Secondly, time is money for business. Tap-and-go payments cost an average of nine cents less than cash payments, and are nearly twice as fast. This research suggests cash-only businesses take a hit to their bottom line by not offering electronic payment.”
Interestingly, there was no counterpoint in the report regarding how consumers feel about businesses that are cashless. However, according to ZDNet:
“Australia has one of the highest usage rates of contactless payments. Mastercard reports its PayPass “tap-and-go” functionality is used in around 80 percent of face-to-face transactions; it’s a similar story where Visa is concerned, with 92 percent of in-person transactions on the Visa network utilizing its PayWave service.“
This could lead you to believe that a merchant’s reputation may not have the same outcome for being cashless versus only cash. There are multiple reasons why a merchant may want to be a cash-only business, but given the digital state of the financial and payments industry, merchants need to consider the various ways their consumers may want to pay for their goods and services.
Overview by Ryan McEndarfer. Editor-in-chief at PaymentsJournal.com
