Why this sign at a popular mechanic's shop has earned praise from hundreds of Aussie customers

By DAVID SOUTHWELL, NEWS REPORTER

Published: | Updated:

A mechanic is attracting praise on social media for urging customers to pay with cash.

A sign spotted at the Home or Away Mechanical Services shop in the southeast Queensland city of Loganlea attracted plenty of accolades after it was posted on a popular Cash is King Facebook page.   

'Yes we take cash,' the sign said. 

'We do not support a cashless society.'

The sign then listed things the business supported such as pocket money, community cash purchases (Marketplace and Gumtree), garage sales, cash in cards for Christmas and financial autonomy

'From a small business paying close to $400 per month in EFTPOS fees, bank fees and hire charges for the EFTPOS machine, we request if possible to pay cash,' the sign said.

'This will benefit the every day hard working people and not the big banks.

'Don’t let Australia become controlled even more – we do want a cashless society.'

A sign spotted at the Home or Away Mechanical Services shop in the south east Queensland city of Loganlea

A sign spotted at the Home or Away Mechanical Services shop in the south east Queensland city of Loganlea

The sign attracted plenty of praise.

'Good for them,' one person wrote.

'Maybe I should change mechanics?' another said. 

'I love this I want to get it printed for my salon,' read another comment.

'Why take something away when it’s worked for so many years,' someone else asked.

'I support cash usage too it's legal tender, I will not support digital currency,' wrote another in agreement.

Last months massive tech outage due to a faulty software update by US company CrowdStike was seized on by many to show the dangers of going cashless, despite some experts saying it is inevitable.

Banks, businesses, airlines, broadcasters and government agencies were thrown into chaos when Microsoft operating systems went down in Australia and worldwide.

Denied the option of digital payments, supermarkets along with retail and hospitality businesses were forced to accept cash only, while the 'blue screens of death' even forced some outlets to close on July 19.

The south east Queensland mechanics said it forked out around $400 per month to take digital payments

The south east Queensland mechanics said it forked out around $400 per month to take digital payments

RMIT University finance academic Angel Zhong has previously suggested Australia will become a functionally cashless society by 2030, earlier than the Commonwealth Bank's forecast of 2026.

Functionally cashless, she explains, means digital payments make up more than 90 per cent of total payments, although cash would retain its value and not disappear.

Her calculation is based on consumer preference data from the RBA.

The latest 2022 survey, published in June 2023, shows cash made up 13 per cent of total payments, down from 69 per cent in 2007 and 27 per cent in 2019.

Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Michele Bullock warned in December the declining circulation of cash was putting pressure on the economics of ATMs and physically moving notes and coins around.

She even suggested businesses could start to push those costs onto consumers by charging extra to use cash.

Home or Away Mechanical Services has been contacted for comment.

MicrosoftQueensland

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