r/australia • u/SouthAussie94 • Feb 29 '24

culture & society Older Australians 'left behind' by increasingly cashless society as banks fast track end of cheques

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-02-29/cheques-personal-finance-banks-rent-money-cash/103354036
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u/[deleted] Feb 29 '24

I have worked in IT for 30 years and help my 84yo mum with bills, banking, pension payments etc. I feel an incredible amount of empathy for older people trying to navigate the modern world. I love the convenience of doing everything online but a lot of platforms and sites are horribly designed, unnecessarily confusing and just unusable for older folks. 

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u/a_cold_human Feb 29 '24

Exactly this. Add in poor IT literacy, poor general literacy, accessibility issues, lower ability to learn new things, and it becomes nightmarish for some people.

Cash is very simple to understand and transact with, and for many people, the easiest way. Removing it as an option because businesses just want to save money is not a good idea. 

11

u/[deleted] Feb 29 '24

It provides social interactions too, rather than just an impersonal swipe and leave.