Cash was meant to be dying. But new RBA data tells a different story
Cash use ticked up for the first time since 2007 — and one in three Australians say they'd struggle without it, according to a survey.
www.sbs.com.auHere’s a concise update based on recent reporting:
- Australia is seeing a measurable uptick in cash use in 2025, marking the first rise since 2007. The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) notes about 15% of payments were made with cash in 2025, up from around 13% in 2022. This reversal has been described as a “comeback” of physical money.[3][4][7]
- Demographics matter: cash usage is highest among older Australians, lower-income households, and residents in regional areas, while younger people are less likely to use cash.[5][7]
- The trend has been covered across multiple outlets, including summaries from 7News and SBS, which highlight the RBA’s findings and the media discussion around a possible “cash renaissance” amid concerns about branch and ATM access in some regions.[4][7][3]
If you’d like, I can pull more precise figures (e.g., current percentage shares by year or breakdowns by age group and region) or summarize what this means for retailers and consumers in practice. Would you like a quick chart or a brief comparative table?
Citations:
- RBA cash-use rise and 15% figure (2025) cited by 7News and SBS summaries.[7][3]
- Context on demographics and regional patterns from those reports and related coverage.[5][7]
- Additional data points and commentary from related outlets (e.g., Meyka, 7News, and related analyses) discussing the “cash comeback” narrative.[4][5]