The ACCC has granted conditional authorisation for the cash-in-transit industry to continue to develop responses to support the distribution of cash.
Cash-in-transit services involve cash transport, management and processing services that maintain the distribution of cash to banks, retailers, and independent ATM operators.
The authorisation follows concerns by the major supplier of cash-in-transit services in Australia, Armaguard, that the industry cannot be sustained in its current form.
Gina Cass-Gottlieb, Chair of the ACCC, said It is crucial that the discussions take into account views from a broad stakeholder group, particularly to ensure initiatives are developed to maintain access to cash in regional and remote areas.
“That will be an important consideration for any future authorisation applications as it can be particularly difficult to access cash in remote and regional areas where consumers are more likely to be high cash users, bank branches are limited and often the only access is through non-bank sources including Australia Post and retailers.”
The consumer watchdog has granted authorisation to the Australian Banking Association (ABA), the Customer Owned Banking Association, banks, retailers and other industry participants to discussing and reaching in-principle agreements about industry responses to providing ongoing access to cash.
The authorisation is for a short duration and will expire at the end of October 2024. Submissions received during the ACCC’s consultation indicated general support for these discussions.
To stay up to date on the latest industry headlines, sign up to the C&I e-newsletter.