'Only cash is reliable': Push for traditional transactions in wake of Optus outage

The unprecedented Optus outage that hit more than 10 million Australians on Wednesday has fed into a call for banks and businesses to keep cash options open.

Cash Welcome campaign coordinator Jason Bryce has called on banks to stop closing branches and ATMs, and for the government to protect cash access and payments.

"Power, internet and EFTPOS systems can all fail and leave us stranded," Bryce said.

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"Only cash is reliable 24 hours per day, 365 days per year."

Australia's financial services regulator, APRA, revealed in October that in the 2022-2023 financial year, 424 bank branches closed across Australia.

It's a particularly prevalent phenomenon in regional areas - which may also lack reliable internet connections - with 122 of those branches outside the cities.

Regional bank numbers have declined by 34 per cent since 2017.

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"Banks enjoy a special place at the heart of our economy. No Australian can get paid without a bank account so banks have an obligation to provide us with local cash access," Bryce said.

"Other nations protect their citizens' right to choose cash and now the Australian government must also mandate cash acceptance, or require banks to provide us with access to our own cash."

Cash Welcome has an online petition calling for the legal right to choose and access cash, with more than 130,000 signatures.