‘Discrimination': Disturbing trend creeping into major supermarkets

News.com.au

10 hours ago

If you've recently tried to use a crisp tenner to pay for your weekly shop, only to be met with a card-only screen and a quiet sense of rejection, you're not alone.
Shoppers across the country are noticing a subtle but significant change at their local Coles and Woolworths stores – cash payment options at self-serve check-outs are quietly disappearing.
Slowly but surely, notes and coins are being nudged out of the equation, replaced with slick tap-and-go terminals.
Both supermarket giants do still accept cash but trying to find a self-serve machine that lets you insert a note may feel like a scavenger hunt.
Many stores now offer just one or two cash-enabled kiosks – often tucked at the far end of the self-serve row.
News.com.au visited three major supermarkets across Sydney's inner west – two Woolworths stores and one Coles – and found that paying with cash is becoming more difficult than ever for those who prefer to skip the card tap.
At the first Woolworths location in Balmain, only two out of 14 self-serve check-outs accepted cash, with the rest card-only.
The supermarket giant has introduced new signage to make it easier for customers to identify those that accept cash.
For this location, those that accepted cash were wrapped in green while those that were card only donned a slick black wrap.
A second Woolworths store in Leichhardt painted a slightly different picture, with six out 18 self-serve machines still accepting cash – a small comfort for those not ready to go fully digital.
These check-outs were wrapped in a neon green as oppose to the card-only black wrapped check-outs – making them easily visible to cash-using customers.
But Coles wasn't so accommodating.
At Birkenhead Point Coles, none of the self-serve check-outs accepted cash at all. Customers who wanted to pay with notes or coins had to queue at the limited assisted check-outs, which had no staff working them.
When asked by news.com.au where cash can be used a Coles staff member replied, 'at the assisted check-outs, but no one is working them right now.'
Critics of the shift argue that moving away from cash risks marginalising older Australians, low income earners, and those who simply prefer not to rely on entirely digital payments.
Melbourne based financial journalist and campaign manager of CashWelcome, Jason Bryce says Coles and Woolworths are 'actively discriminating against cash users.'
'I want to use that word. because I know that the supermarkets actively discriminate against the millions of Australians who use cash,' he told news.com.au.
'I get emails regularly from people who have complained to Coles and Woolies and to the ACCC, RBA, Human Rights Commission because cash users are forced to wait for 10 minutes for a cash accepting terminal to become free. Meanwhile the card users sail straight through.'
Mr Bryce says the longest he has waited to pay with cash at his local Coles supermarket was upwards of 40 minutes.
'These people want to get rid of cash. And we all know that everybody needs cash at some stage, whether you rely on it day to day or just occasionally,' he added.
'They've got to do more than accept cash. Cash has got to be equal to the other payment options. All terminals should accept cash and card.'
Additionally, Australians are spending an estimated $140 annually in card surcharges and fees which Mr Bryce believes is actually 'much more than that.'
The Federal government has already announced plans to ban debit card surcharges from January 1 2026, in a move aimed at putting money back into consumers' pockets.
While the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) is still reviewing the proposal, initial modelling suggests that removing the often-despised fees could save consumers a whopping $500 million annually.
Surcharges, which are commonly tacked onto small purchases at cafes, retail stores and online check-outs, have long drawn the ire of shoppers.
According to RBA data, almost half (45 per cent) of consumers in 2022 said they would opt for a non-surcharged payment method when presented with the option. 20 per cent of Aussies went even further, stating they would avoid shopping at businesses that imposed these extra charges all together.
However, Mr Bryce isn't convinced this move is in the best interest of Australians.
'I support surcharges on card transactions,' he said.
'We know Aussies don't like a fee but this fee is upfront. If there's a ban on surcharges, those costs will become absorbed in the payment and we won't know what the cost is anymore, that's a big problem.'
A recent CHOICE survey of almost 13,000 Aussies confirmed that 97% believe it's important that businesses selling essential goods and services are mandated to accept cash.
'Obviously we can't avoid supermarkets, so they've got to do more than just say, 'yeah, we accept cash.' That's disingenuous,' says Mr Bryce.
Coles insist they're not eliminating cash.
A spokesperson for Coles said: 'We know that cash remains an important payment method for some customers, and we have no plans to remove cash self-service options.
'If any of our customers can't find their preferred checkout option, we always have team members in the service area to who are there to help.'