COVID changed our attitude to money
The Reserve Bank of Australia reported (9th February 2026) the total value of cash withdrawals made in Australia rose by $386 million in December 2025 from the previous month.
The total value of cash withdrawals in December was up $94.7 million compared with the previous December 2024.
Perhaps surprisingly to some, bank branches experienced a sharp influx of foot traffic in December as 200,00- additional customers visited their local bank to make a withdrawal.
The RBA said the total value of ‘over-the-counter’ cash withdrawals rose $400 million in December 2025 to the highest December number for three years – over $2.851 billion.
Even the value of EFTPOS cash-outs was up, despite harsh restrictions imposed by retailers.
ATM cash withdrawals fell just slightly by $89 million to $9.17 billion.
The overall trend is that monthly cash usage statistics are basically unchanged since the end of the COVID pandemic era (March 2020 – January 2022).
ATMs are the favourite way to access cash in Australia, with no decline in the monthly value of ATM withdrawals since before COVID in 2020.
The COVID era featured plenty of messaging from card schemes, retailers and banks encouraging consumers to abandon cash and adopt digital payments.
But what happened – and the trend is now undeniable – is that the decline in the use of cash stopped. The decline in the number of bank branches and ATMs continued apace as banks continued to restrict access to cash, but Australians started to travel further, to make more of an effort to find cash and use it.
Almost $9.2 billion was withdrawn from Australian ATMs in December 2025, reported the RBA, that’s about the same level of monthly withdrawals as most months since the COVID era.
But there are fewer bank-owned ATMs now and more ATMs charge fees than ever before. So Australians are seeking out an ATM and are prepared to pay a fee to get cash.
Based on the RBA data, the average ATM withdrawal is $330 so clearly Australians are withdrawing enough money for shopping or their activities. This is cash being used for transactions and daily spending.
Something big changed during the COVID pandemic era. Australians turned back to using cash. The decline in cash usage stopped. Banks are now obviously trying to restrict cash access in the face of strong demand from Australian consumers for legal tender physical banknotes.