As the chaos caused by this morning’s Optus outage continues to unfold, outraged Aussies have used the situation as proof a fully cashless society would spell “total disaster” for the country.
Businesses across the country have been left unable to open their doors this morning, with those that rely on the Optus network left unable to use EFTPOS machines.
Cafes, Uber drivers, mechanics and snake catchers alike have been forced to either close up shop or are unable to provide their usual services due to the outage, which is impacting 10 million customers.
Not having access to EFTPOS machines means many businesses are now having to rely solely on cash payments if they want to keep trading, a move that isn’t easy in an increasingly cashless society.
Aussies who have been pushing back against the phasing out of physical money have used today’s outage as fuel, saying the ensuing chaos is undeniable truth that “cash is king”.
Popular Facebook group Cash Welcome posted that only people with “notes and coins can buy stuff” this morning, while trains, businesses and consumers have been left “stranded”.
“Cash – don’t leave home without it,” the post read.
One Facebook user wrote: “Can anyone imagine what will happen if we go cashless in this country. It will be a total disaster, we all must stop a cashless Australia from happening. If every person went to there (sic) bank just once a week and withdrew cash we could avoid this stupidity.”
Another person claimed that the outage proves to “all the idiots that support the idea of a cashless society” that phasing out physical money is a “stupid idea”.
Members of the Cash is King group have also jumped on the situation, with many using it as an opportunity to essentially tell the rest of the country “I told you so’.
“There’s a price to pay for convenience & laziness. Have cash, and these situations won’t be an issue,” one person said.
“Goes to show just how reliant/vulnerable we are by using technology,” another said.
Many have taken aim at cashless businesses, saying it is “hilarious” that places that previously refused cash are now “begging for us to find the nearest ATM”.
Some have even gone as far as to claim the outage is a good thing, as it reminds people that the need for cash is still there.
“Hope the outage lasts all day,” one person wrote, with another adding that they hope it lasts all week.
Earlier this month, RMIT University finance expert Dr Angel Zhong said it was inevitable that Australia would become a cashless society.
“The convenience of digital transactions has become irresistible for consumers and businesses and has led to the sector eclipsing traditional payment methods,” she told NCA NewsWire.
Cash will be used so rarely that Australia will be effectively cashless by 2025, Dr Zhong said.
Only around 13 per cent of payments are now made in cash, down from 30 per cent in 2019, with the rapid decrease attributed to the Covid-19 pandemic.
This is one of the biggest outages Optus has ever seen. According to Downdetector, reports of the outage started about 4am on Wednesday morning, with issues reported across the country in Perth, Melbourne, Brisbane, Sydney and Adelaide.
It isn’t just businesses that are hurting this morning, with transport systems thrown into chaos, health services impacted and online banking affected.
Customers have now been urged to not attempt to contact emergency services from an Optus landline, as it will not work.
“We encourage any customers who need to contact emergency services to use a mobile line to call 000,” an Optus spokesperson.
“Optus can confirm that triple zero (“000”) calls will not work from an Optus landline (fixed line telephone). Mobile calls to 000 will work if another carrier is available.
“Our teams are working to restore services as soon as possible. We will provide an update as soon as we are able.
“We are currently working to identify the cause and apologise for any inconvenience.”
A Home Affairs department spokesperson said they have received “no indication that this is a cyber incident” but the nature of the outage is under ongoing investigation.
Optus customers have taken to social media to blast the telco, slamming the outage as an “absolute failure”.
“Woke up this morning thinking I will have a peaceful work from home day but Optus said NO,” one person wrote.
Another person claimed they were “stranded” as there were no trains running, they couldn’t book an Uber, make calls or send messages.
“What’s going on. This is crazy had my ID data stolen and now this, no network,” another said.