Measuring the Distance to Cash Access Points in Australia

Access to cash remains an important aspect of the Australian payment system, despite the increasing adoption of electronic payment methods. This study uses geographic data on national road networks to estimate the driving distance from residential locations across Australia to the nearest cash access points. First, I document the aggregate decline of cash access points, including bank branches, ATMs, and Bank@Post services. Second, using the geodesic distance as a measure of proximity to cash access points, I find that the distance has generally increased over time due to the decline in cash access points. Finally, I incorporate data on national road networks to compute the actual driving distance to the nearest cash access points, and demonstrate that driving distances can be longer than geodesic distances by a significant margin.