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ATMs doomed Down Under, financial literacy chairman says

May 23, 2018

Will Australia be largely devoid of ATMs a few years from now? That's the prediction from Paul Clitheroe, chairman of the Australian Financial Literacy Board.

According to a report by Daily Mail Australia, Clitheroe believes that Aussies' use of tap-and-go contactless payments will make transactions so fast and easy that cash use will fall off a cliff within five years, taking ATMs along with it.

Australians, especially those in major metropolitan areas, can expect to see mass ATM closures within the next two years, particularly in large cities and their surrounding areas, Clitheroe said.

"They're dead," he told Daily Mail.

According to the report, three Australian banks have closed a collective total of nearly 450 ATMs since early 2017.

The four largest banks in the country quit charging ATM fees last year, an action that has made it virtually impossible to run a profitable ATM operation, the report said.