Why your business should consider ePayment

Business name
Australian Taxation Office (ATO)
Last updated date
4 Jul 2018

An illustration showing a woman at work, a couple holding shopping bags and a woman in overalls holding a plant in one hand and a shopping basket in the other. Above them is the text, “Electronic payments are on the rise”.

Fumbling for the right change in your wallet used to be painful. For years it had the potential to be a major source of frustration at supermarket checkouts and coffee shop counters all over Australia.

Thanks to technology, these moments are now less common.

Plenty has been said about a cashless future. Most conversations question the legitimacy of this move. What will the deadline be for phasing out cash? What does this mean for those who prefer to use bank notes?

Yet for many consumers, this cashless society is already here.

75% of transactions electronic

ATO research shows more than 75% of all consumer transactions are now electronic. And on average, we’re carrying less than $50 at any time. We prefer to use our cards for any purchase over $10. Thanks to initiatives such as the New Payments Platform (NPP) and PayID, which make it easier to transfer money in real time, this trend is likely to continue.

It used to be a status symbol if you could walk into a dealership and pay cash for a new car. Today, most Australians aren’t even prepared to count out spare change for their morning coffees. They prefer to pay electronically, even for traditional cash transactions such as buying the groceries (75%) or paying a trades person (66%).

Read: Find customers online

The cultural shift towards cashless payments is being driven by consumers. They live in a digital world where e-payments are quick, convenient and secure. They don’t want to carry large sums of cash or go digging around for paper receipts when things go wrong.

90% of businesses use ePayment

The same research found 90% of businesses already use electronic payments, with 74% saying small businesses that only accept cash will alienate some customers. It also found that generally, the younger you are, the less likely you are to carry cash. Millennials said they hardly carry any cash at all, and expect to use electronic payments for all transactions.

For businesses, it’s about being prepared for this increasingly cashless society – or risk turning customers away.

There are lots of advantages when it comes to using electronic record keeping and payment systems, and they can help you adapt to an increasingly cashless society. By investing in an electronic payment facility, you’ll be able to make it quicker and easier for your business and your customers.

Read: Sell from a business website

You can find out more about electronic payment systems at ato.gov.au/electronicpayments

For more information on tools and services to support your small business, visit ato.gov.au/SBsupport

An illustrated infographic. At the top are the words “Electronic payments are on the rise under which sits an illustration of the Sydney skyline. A blue, wavy line goes from right to left on the image and shows different people shopping and dining. The top section has a ribbon reading ‘Consumers’. It features the following statistics: 2 in 3 consumers are open to the idea of a cashless society; 57% of Australians are using less cash than 5 years ago; 60 % of Australians carry no or limited cash; people ahed 25 to 24 are most likely to not carry cash and expect to pay electronically. The next section is ‘Business owners’: 3 in 4 business owners believe cash only businesses will be left behind; 77% of small businesses believe only accepting cash will alienate customers; 90% of business already accept payment through electronic channels. The last section is ‘Industry’: 2 in 3 Australians prefer to pay a tradesperson for work with electronic payments; 69% of Australians prefer to pay for a restaurant meal electronically.