Citi makes Aussie branches cashless

Citi makes Aussie branches cashless

Citi's Australian arm is going cashless, telling customers that it will no longer handle notes and coins in branches because of a lack of demand.

Cash services will be killed off on 24 November because fewer than four per cent of customers have used them in the last year, says the bank.

Janine Copelin, head, retail banking, Citi, told the Sydney Morning Herald: "This move to cashless branches reflects Citi's commitment to digital banking and we are investing in the channels our customers prefer to use."

Cash use has been on the decline in Australia, where strong contactless payments uptake has seen notes and coins used for fewer low value transactions, Reserve Bank data shows.

UBS analysts recently suggested that the country should follow India's lead and phase out high-value notes as a way to tackle crime and boost tax revenues.

Citi customers can still make deposits through the Australia Post network and Copelin says that there are no plans to close branches, which are still an "important component of how we serve our high-net worth customers".
 

Comments: (1)

A Finextra member
A Finextra member 18 November, 2016, 08:49Be the first to give this comment the thumbs up 0 likes

Citi Bank in Australia will go cashless on the 24th November 2016. This small development is a 'sign of the times'. As most of Citi Bank's customers have 'voted with their feet' regarding the slow demise of cash and the generational uptake of electronic payments such as credit and debit card contactless payments and mobile payments such as Apple Pay & Samsung Pay, moving to cashless branches is a small step along the slow burn of cash and the uptake of cashless payments. ING Direct in Australia are a cashless bank and have been since day one of trading in Australia 

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