One of Australia’s big four banks has defended its decision to ban over-the-counter cash withdrawals, four months after it was quietly implemented.
Taryn Comptyn was left in shock after visiting a local ANZ Bank branch to withdraw $3,500 over the counter for a renewal payment as she did not have her bank card with her.
Ms Comptyn said she closed her account on the spot after a teller told her they were out of cash at the branch. “The world has gone crazy,” she said.
ANZ announced in March that it was phasing out some of its services and that certain branches would no longer carry physical cash.
The bank did not disclose at the time which branches would be affected, but insisted that only a “small number” would be affected.
In a statement, the bank stood by its decision not to use cash behind the counter and clarified which branches are affected.
ANZ Bank quietly banned over-the-counter cash withdrawals at some metropolitan branches
“At ANZ, we’ve seen in-branch transactions drop 50 per cent in the last five years, and now only one per cent of transactions are done over the counter and 96 per cent are done digitally,” said a spokesman.
“Some ANZ branches no longer handle cash at the counter, but continue to have cash available through our smart on-site ATMs.”
ANZ said all affected branches are located in metropolitan areas and are within 10 km of the nearest branch with over-the-counter service.
‘At these branches, cash and check deposits and cash withdrawals can continue to be made using our smart ATMs and coin deposit machines, and we have staff on hand to assist first-time customers.
‘All of these branches are located in metropolitan areas and are within 10 km of the next closest branch with over-the-counter services.’
Ms. Comptyn had gone to her bank to withdraw $3,500 to pay for the renewals, but she did not have her ATM card handy.
“I thought ‘okay,’ I’ll just go to the ATM,'” he said in an online video.
‘The teller proceeds to tell me that they don’t have cash in the bank anymore, you can only get it through the ATM, but she said ‘don’t worry, I’ll set you up with a card so you can touch it’ instead of her card.’
However, when Ms Comptyn tried her temporary card at the ATM, an error message repeatedly appeared.
“She (the cashier) said, ‘I’m so sorry, there’s nothing we can do,'” Ms Comptyn said.
TikToker Taryn Comptyn was so angry that her bank couldn’t deliver cash from her account that she closed it.
‘I was like ‘what do you mean? I need to get my money out of my bank account.’
“She was like ‘I’m really sorry, we don’t carry cash here.’
Ms Comptyn said the teller suggested that she could transfer the cash to an account at another bank, if she had one, and access it there.
“Luckily for me, I’m with another bank, so I transferred every penny from that account, closed the account while I was there, and went to get my money from the other bank,” Ms Comptyn said.
“But it got me thinking about our banking system and where we are and how the hell can you go to a bank and not have access to your own money.”
Ms Comptyn’s post drew a huge deal from the more than 34,000 people who viewed it.
“Yeah they’re trying to go digital…everyone starts withdrawing cash so they can’t make the switch,” one person wrote.
‘I definitely have. I got it out while I still could. The world has gone mad,” Ms Comptyn replied.
In March, ANZ announced that some of its branches in Victoria would no longer carry cash, except at ATMs.
‘Isn’t there any money in the bank?!’ another person exclaimed.
‘I understand that I can’t get 10k on the spot, but as a friend! Don’t you have cash?
Critics have warned that the move to cashless banks could cause significant harm to seniors and people with disabilities who still rely on branches and physical cash.
The number of bank branches in Australia has fallen by 30 per cent in the last five years.
And ATMs have declined further, with figures showing they have fallen from a high of 14,000 in 2017 to around 6,000 last year.
The Reserve Bank estimated that only 13 percent of transactions at the end of 2022 were in cash, a halving in just three years since the start of the covid pandemic.
Only eight percent of ANZ customers trust banks to get their money, according to the bank.
