Commonwealth Bank eliminates cash withdrawals and deposits at special branches across Australia

Commonwealth Bank has opened a number of ‘cashless’ branches with customers who can no longer access their money over the counter.

Cash on till transactions are not available at branches including Commonwealth Bank Place in central Sydney along with nearby South Eveleigh, Barangaroo and Sydney University, which the bank now calls “specialist centres”.

Daily Mail Australia also understands that some ‘specialist centres’ branches in Brisbane and Melbourne no longer allow over the counter cash withdrawals and deposits.

Deposits and withdrawals can still be made via on-site ATMs, but for those who don’t have their bank card handy, things get a lot more difficult.

“Cash without card” withdrawals of up to $500 per day using the CommBank app are available, but for those who need more funds or don’t have their phone with them, their money is not accessible.

Customers will need to locate a branch that still offers cashier transactions and travel there.

Daily Mail Australia had contacted CommBank for comment.

The move to cashless branches follows another of Australia’s ‘big four’ banks which also made the switch with very little warning.

ANZ said 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.

An ANZ customer, Taryn Comptyn, was shocked when she visited her local ANZ Bank branch to withdraw $3500 over the counter for a renewal payment because she did not have her bank card with her.

“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.

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.

In March, ANZ announced that some of its branches in Victoria would no longer carry cash, except at ATMs.

ANZ client Taryn Compton found out only when she tried to access her cash

In a statement, ANZ said it supported its decision not to use cash behind the counter and clarified which branches are affected.

“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.’