The Reserve Bank of Australia reported this week that the total value of cash withdrawals made in Australia rose by $386 million in December 2025, compared with November 2025.

The total value of cash withdrawals in December was up $94.7 million when compared with December 2024, 12 months earlier.

Bank branches around Australia experienced a sharp influx of foot traffic in December 2025 with an extra 200,000 visitors for the month. Perhaps this is due to Australians looking for fee-free cash.

The total value of over-the-counter cash withdrawals made in a bank branch was up more $400 million in December 2025 to the highest December number for three years - $2.85 billion.

The value of EFTPOS cash-outs made at a retailer was up more than $35 million in December while ATM cash withdrawals were down just slightly by $89 million to $9.17 billion.

The overall trend shows that cash usage is largely unchanged since the COVID pandemic (March 2020 - January 2022).

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Australia's favourite way to access cash remains ATMs.

Almost $9.2 billion was withdrawn from ATMs in December 2025, reported the RBA.

There's been little change in the monthly value of ATM withdrawals since the end of COVID.

The average ATM withdrawal is now $330 so clearly Aussies are using ATMs to withdraw enough money for shopping or activities.