The hassle of using cash instead of card, even for small purchases, is killing small change in Australia.

In the past 10 years, cash payments have fallen by half while card payments have almost doubled.

Key points: Tap-and-go cards are now so popular that Australia is printing fewer coins than ever

Tap-and-go cards are now so popular that Australia is printing fewer coins than ever The ATO, Reserve Bank and the Australian Mint are all watching how we spend our money

The ATO, Reserve Bank and the Australian Mint are all watching how we spend our money Paying for a coffee has never been easier, but not everyone is aware of the costs of convenience

Reserve Bank of Australia data also shows even when Australians do use cash, they are using it to pay for smaller items, with bigger purchases going on the card.

None of that is any surprise for Sunshine Coast café owner Shane Newton.

After 11 years running a restaurant in Noosa and now a beachside café in Mooloolaba, he has watched cash and coins becoming increasingly rare.

"Everybody that's on the beach, everyone who is doing their morning walk, they don't want to carry the cash on them," he said.

"They would rather just carry a card. They don't want change jingling around.

"If we just had cash, our trade would be less than half that it is right now, that's for sure."

For Mr Newton, it also means customers are taking away their coffees quicker. Buyers are no longer counting out coins of silver and gold.

When the cafe closes, his staff are no longer putting so many 20-cent pieces into plastic bags ready for the bank.

"I think eventually everyone will be using cards and there will be hardly any cash getting used," he said.

"Over the last 10 years it has probably gone from 20 per cent to maybe 60 per cent with people using card instead of cash."

The end of cash and small change?

The impact of Sunshine Coast walkers with their morning lattes is not lost on the Royal Australian Mint.

At its 1982 peak, as it introduced the $1 coin, the mint pumped 612 million coins into national circulation as the population topped 15.1 million.

Now as the nation grows beyond 24.7 million, the mint last year produced just 133 million coins — a reduction of almost 80 per cent.

The mint said digital technology was to blame, and it knows there is little hope of a turnaround.

It recognised a "diminishing use of circulating coins" five years ago as people chose other ways to spend their money.

The expectation is that demand for coins will continue to fall, but based on the last two years' data, at a slower rate.

The Reserve Bank of Australia is also paying attention.

Australians spent $250 billion by card in 2007, just a nose ahead of the $218 billion they spent in cash.

A decade later card spending had almost doubled to $496 billion as cash spending slid down to $162 billion.

The demand for cash today is now being driven less by spenders and more by those wanting to store their money.

RBA assistant governor Lindsay Boulton told a meeting in December that Australia was facing a future with less cash or potentially no cash at all.

"Whatever the endpoint — less cash or cashless — the journey is likely to be a steady walk rather than a quick sprint," he said.

Celia James buys her morning coffee from Daniela May with cash, bucking a national trend to pay by eftpos. ( ABC Sunshine Coast: Owen Jacques )

Why the tax office wants you to pay with card

The eagle eyes of the Australian Tax Office are watching the trend too, because more cards means a better paper trail.

Cafes and restaurants, alongside building companies and hairdressing, are the cash-heavy industries permanently on the radar of the ATO as it cracks down on the hidden economy of cash moving around outside the system.

The ATO estimates these hidden torrents of cash to be worth more than $18 billion.

A tax office spokesman said the office had noticed the rise in tap-and-go payments for even small amounts, before going on to spruik the benefits of using a card over cash.

Australians are becoming hooked on contactless cards, and it is killing our spare change. ( AAP: David Crosling )

He said the cost of using electronic payments was falling, and was tax deductible for businesses.

For Mr Newton and his businesses, it is also a time-saver.

"You can just print off the total at the end of the day off the eftpos," he said.

"That side of it is balanced. And there's just a small amount of cash to be counted.

"In the old days, you're counting lots of five or 10 cent pieces and it takes a bit of time."

How much is all this going to cost you?

If you are not paying attention, maybe more than you think.

Australian Competition and Consumer Commission deputy chairman Michael Schaper said people hooked on the technology often had little idea of the costs involved.

"For most businesses there is a fee they're charged through their bank or their card operator," he said last month.

"If you do tap and get hit with an extra charge, it is legal."

Dr Schaper said when businesses copped fees from using the technology — usually 1 to 2 per cent — they were generally passing it on, even if they quietly increased the price of an item by nine or 10 cents.

Back at Hustle and Flow, Mr Newton said very few customers thought twice about using their card.

"I reckon it's a 30-plus at least generation," he said.

"They'll ask if it's OK to tap for a $2.50 bottle of water. They sort of feel a little bit bad.

"As I've come to accept, it's just something you have to absorb because that's what the demand is."

Mr Newton knows exactly what it costs as a customer and as a business to use the technology, so does he personally embrace it?

"The convenience of just pulling out and tapping it and not having to remember your PIN," he said.

"It's almost too easy."