Australian consumers have been shifting towards electronic payments for years, but RBA assistant governor Michele Bullock in a speech said COVID-19 was likely to have sparked permanent changes in how people use money. Among the many financial trends sped up by the pandemic is the decline of the cheque, which had already been falling sharply for the past two decades. Ms Bullock said the value of cheque payments in April collapsed by 40 per cent compared with a year earlier, prompting banks to actively consider shutting down the cheque system.

Payments expert Mike Ebstein of MWE Consulting said the value of cheque payments had plunged by $549 billion in the last two years, due mainly to a large fall in cheques between banks. “A fall of a similar magnitude over the next two years would completely wipe out the value of cheques issued in Australia,” he said.

Read the full article at The Sydney Morning Herald