Western Australia's King River Tavern dumps electronic payments to ensure cash remains king

Sam James has been receiving more positive feedback about her cash-only stance than ever before. (ABC Great Southern: John Dobson)

While many businesses across Australia are becoming cashless, this small West Australian pub only accepts cash.

The King River Tavern sits on the edge of its eponymous river, about 20 minutes north-east of Albany on the state’s south coast.

For two decades Sam James has run the pub, which has been cash-only for the past 15 years.

Signs highlighting the unique arrangement dot the walls of the pub.

The decision to go cash-only was sparked by a flooded restaurant.

“We had big floods through the restaurant, so we closed it down and we had all these machines costing us a lot of money,” Ms James said.

“It cost us hundreds of dollars just to give them back.”

Cash remains king at tavern

The tavern does have an ATM for those caught short without cash.

“If they don’t have cash they can get some out or miss out,” Ms James said.

But the publican said her stance had the support of a majority of patrons, with only limited grumbles.

“They say it’s refreshing and they’re glad to use cash over card,” she said.

“I’m not against banks by no means. We all need them but we all need to keep cash alive as well.”

Ms James said cash was the only way she could operate during blackouts.

“We’ve had some of our best nights here when the power is out … I can only sell drinks with cash,” she said.

She conceded her approach would not work for all businesses.

“Cash works for my business … it’s easy for me because we don’t serve food,” Ms James said.

“A lot of people will say, ‘Oh, I wish I could do cash only’, but every business is different.”

‘Businesses don’t have to accept cash’

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission details on its website that businesses should be “clear about the types of payments they accept” and that “businesses don’t have to accept cash”.

But as banks continue to close regional branches, including Bankwest announcing it will close the doors on all 60 of its branches, there has been growing concern about access to cash.

Following Bankwest’s announcement,  a “Cash is king” movement has gained support in Western Australia as social media users and businesses post support for coins and notes.

The Australian Banking Association reported ATM withdrawals dropped from 75 million per month in 2008 to 31 million in 2021, a cash decline from $13.6 billion to $8.6 billion.

Electronic payments costly

Albany Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) chief executive Kristen Pyrz-Brown said the cost of electronic banking for businesses was often passed onto the customer.

She said banking costs added to continuing rising costs across the board for businesses.

“It does put business in a really dichotomous position,” Ms Pyrz-Brown said.

“We know that the cost of doing business has been exponentially rising, obviously in a macro-economic level as well,” she said.