The recent Crowdstrike outage needs to be the start of a conversation at a local and national level on how we keep cash in our society, a local MP has said.
Federal MP Kevin Hogan said the Crowdstrike failure has reinforced the importance of maintaining cash in our communities.
“There are calls from many people to remove cash and move towards a full digital payment system. It is also concerning to see reports of banks removing over the counter deposits and withdrawals from some branches,” Mr Hogan said.
“While some people enjoy the convenience of tapping a card or a phone when it doesn’t work, they are left scrambling and unable to access their own money.”
On Friday, July 19, computer systems across the world at airports, supermarkets and some banks were paralysed by an update to their operating systems by cybersecurity firm Crowdstrike. The issues are expected to to take weeks to resolve.
“Cyberattacks and other system failures such as electricity and telecommunications outages are becoming more and more prevalent in a digital world,” Mr Hogan said.
“If you remove cash, it means people have nothing to fall back on. Everyday basics such as buying food are impacted.
“Our communities must always have the option of using cash for essential items like water, food and fuel.”
What do you think? Do you even carry cash any more? What is the future for cash?
The information in this report was supplied by the office of Kevin Hogan MP.
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