Head of the payments policy department at the Reserve Bank of Australia, Tony Richards, reviewed some ongoing regulatory speed humps for the RBA - notably the refusal of cheques and cash to disappear from the payments landscape.In his formal presentation to industry professionals at the Australian Payment Summit in Sydney yesterday, Richards canvassed the future of what he dubbed the 'analogue' payment methods - cash and cheques - and noted the already falling rates of use are expected be given further impetus by the New Payments Platform.However, he conceded there is still strong demand for Australian banknotes for consumer purchases and some groups of the population remain particularly reliant on it. Nevertheless, cash use is falling on a per capita basis, Richards said, noting: "There are already some signs in the ATM market, where bank and non-bank deployers have begun rationalising their fleets."This was where a social policy agenda was needed, he suggested."Policy concerns could arise if there was a significant decline in ATM coverage that made it difficult for people to access cash, particularly in remote or regional locations," Richards said."However, some sensible consolidation of the ATM network could result in a more efficient and sustainable ATM industry - one possibility is that this could come through some form of industry utility."These comments had been foreshadowed in an earlier panel discussion during which Gijs Boudewijn, chair of the European Banking Federation, using his home territory of the Netherlands as an example, explained that the three major banks there - ABN Amro, ING and Rabobank - decided to set up an ATM pooling arrangement, which resulted in one set of cash machines, reduced the fleet from 8000 to 6000 devices with all three sharing costs and responsibilities.Also on the panel with Boudewijn, wondering if Australia should go cashless, was Melissa Hope, head of the RBA's note issue department. She was non-committal about pushing Australia's banks into a similar deal."Fundamentally we look for an industry-led approach [to implement changes, where] the incentives will drive the parties involved to an optimal outcome," Hope said.Richards was less circumspect. He said the RBA "would have an open mind to an arrangement that resulted in a more sustainable ATM industry that continued to provide services where they are clearly still needed."In regard to cheques, the other "analogue" payment method, Richards cited recent data showing year-on-year falls of 23 per cent and 30 per cent in the number and value of cheques, respectively.What is noteworthy in the recent data is the rate of fall in the number of financial institution (or bank) cheques. This reflects a rapid shift in the real estate industry towards electronic conveyancing. Considering the costs of maintaining the cheque system, Richards warned the time for the industry to announce the end of the cheque system may be approaching.