A high proportion of merchants are planning to discourage cash payments at some point in the future, a survey has found. RFI Global surveyed 1000 merchants businesses last year and found that cash is accepted by 78 per cent of card-accepting merchants with a physical presence.  RFI found that half the merchants currently accepting cash are planning to actively discourage cash payments at some point in the future. Merchants listed hygiene concerns, customer preference, security and cash handling costs as reasons for moving away from cash. The Reserve Bank cited the RFI research in an article on cash trends in the latest RBA Bulletin. It said the RFI sample excluded cash-only firms and therefore underestimated the current rate of cash acceptance. Its own survey shows merchant cash acceptance falling from 99 per cent just before the pandemic to 94 per cent in June last year. A separate RBA consumer survey last year found that one-third of respondents noticed a vendor did not accept cash. The RBA said the use of cash for day-to-day payments has been declining for many years but COVID-19 accelerated the trend, and the change in payment behaviour induced by the pandemic has endured. It said the cash-use cycle in Australia is functioning adequately but there are some emerging vulnerabilities in the cash system. Some communities, particularly in non-metropolitan areas, would be increasingly susceptible to a decline in cash access if there were to be further removal of cash access points. According to the most recent APRA points of presence survey, the number of bank branches fell 7.1 per cent to 4014 in the year to June 2022. Over the previous five years the number of branches fell by 29.5 per cent. The number of “other face-to-face” facilities (mostly Bank@Post outlets) fell 0.9 per cent to 4455 in the year to June and fell 7.1 per cent over five years. The number of ATMs fell 17.3 per cent to 6412 in the year to June and fell 53.6 per cent over five years.