Chris Tate of Pablo & Rusty’s discusses why going cashless could be a better bet for the café and coffee sector.
A new proposal from the Australian Government is set to require businesses selling “essential goods and services” to accept cash. What’s unclear is whether this would include cafés like ours and many of our amazing café partners.
There’s no shortage of hospitality venues around Australia that have already gone cashless. But, we now find ourselves watching closely.
For us, this isn’t about politics. It’s about practicality.
We’ve been cashless in our Brisbane CBD café since 2016 and in our Sydney CBD café since 2017. Back then, it felt bold. Now, it’s business as usual – and, frankly, it’s worked.
In an ideal world, we’d serve every customer the way they prefer, including with cash, but reality is more complicated.
Cash is slow, it’s costly, it poses safety risks, and very few of our customers actually ask for it.
The reality of running a café today
Our focus is on crafting delicious coffee and meaningful connections, staying cashless helps us do just that. Here’s why:
- Faster service, especially during peak hours.
- Safer for staff as not having cash on site (or transferring cash) means less risk of theft or incident.
- No risk of till errors or float issues.
- No need to manage trips to a shrinking number of bank branches.
- Lower insurance premiums.
- More time spent on hospitality, not counting coins.
Over the years, we’ve had very little pushback from customers. If someone turns up with only cash, we’re not going to turn them away. We’ll serve their coffee and just ask that next time they bring a card, which most are happy to do.
Why a mandate would be a step backward
If cafés are classified as “essential”, we might be forced to reintroduce cash. That would mean higher costs, more processes and reversing many of the efficiency gains that help small venues survive.
This added stress would come at a time when the hospitality is under immense pressure, with nearly one in ten hospitality businesses closing its doors last year.
Yes, some large retailers may be better equipped to handle cash, but small hospitality venues? Not so much. Every minute counts, every dollar of cost matters. In a high-pressure industry, we simply can’t afford more complexity.
Let’s also not forget the broader shifts away from cash use:
- Cash will make up only 7 per cent of in-person transaction value by 2030, a drop from the current 10 per cent.
- In 2022, 72 per cent of Australians used cash for 20 per cent or less of their in-person payments.
- Among over-65s, cash use dropped from 52 per cent of transactions in 2019 to just 27 per cent in 2022.
- Australia has lost over 6,000 ATMs and 200 bank branches in five years.
We’re not against cash. We’re just asking for balance.
What we hope to see
We hope the government does not deem cafés “essential” in this context. What would help small businesses more is:
- Competitive, regulated merchant fees – banks have a role to play here.
- Support for reliable digital payment systems.
- Less red tape, not more.
At the end of the day, our goal is simple. We want to serve delicious coffee, treat our people well and create a welcoming experience. For us and many others, staying cashless helps us do just that.
Ultimately, with something like this, the customers will suffer through higher costs and a worse off experience.
Businesses should be left to choose what model they operate: cash-only, cashless or hybrid. But most importantly, the hospitality sector needs support, so get out there and support your local by spending your money (whichever way is excepted) and enjoy the value they bring to your community.
Content originally published on the Pablo & Rusty’s website. For more information, click here.
