People also wonder with contactless payments now so ubiquitous, do we still need banknotes? Given these questions, it might surprise you then to know that the demand for banknotes in Australia is still strong. The stock of banknotes on issue, relative to the size of the economy, is close to the highest it has been in 50 years.
It is possible that low interest rates are part of the story here. All up, there are 14 $ notes on issue for every Australian, 30 $ and 7 $ That makes for around $ worth of banknotes on issue for every Australian. I, for one, don’t have anywhere near that amount.