Macquarie Bank goes digital

Macquarie Bank has announced that it will no longer accept cash or cheque deposits at its offices from Monday (20 May) due to low customer usage.

The bank will no longer allow customers to deposit or collect cheques at a Macquarie office, deposit cash at a Macquarie office, or order new chequebooks.

Macquarie Bank said, however, that customers will still be able to withdraw cash from ATMs across Australia and that it would continue to pay for any fees that customers incur from withdrawing cash with their Macquarie debit card.

The bank revealed that it decided to remove its cash and cheque services as only 0.1 per cent of customers used its services. Macquarie Bank said it has been in communication with customers who used the services to ensure they have alternative arrangements.

From 1 November 2024, the bank will also stop customers from writing or depositing personal cheques, depositing or requesting bank cheques, depositing cash or cheques at National Australia Bank (NAB) branches, or making super contributions via cheque.

Macquarie Bank said that any cheques received after 31 October 2024 will be returned to the sender.

For customers affected by the changes, Macquarie Bank suggested that customers start using the bank’s mobile and internet banking services to make secure digital payments. The bank also suggested that customers with an adviser reach out to them to talk about making digital payments on their behalf.

Customers who receive payments or dividends from a share registry will need to update their bank details to receive digital payments.

The bank will also phase-out cash and cheque services on all business banking accounts, effective Monday, which will prevent a business’ customers from making DEFT payments (a customer-initiated payment system) over the phone.

Macquarie Bank said that DEFT will no longer be accepted via its locked bag service, however, it would continue to be accepted in-store at Australia Post stores.

The announcement comes as Macquarie released its financial results for FY2024, revealing that its mortgage portfolio book grew by 10 per cent.

[Related: Should we be calling Macquarie a major bank now?]