Cash Crash in Australia?

As Currency News™ went to press, news came out that the cash management firms Armaguard, with a 90% share of the market, is seeking a cash injection to ensure it can operate its banknote distribution services profitably, just five months after it merged with rival Prosegur to create a near-monopoly that was supposed to do just that (see CN June 2023).

According to the Australian Financial Review, the Australian Banking Association (ABA) has filed an urgent application to the competition regulator – the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) – to allow them to meet and discuss a joint response to the possible crisis in distributing cash around the nation.

The issue, unsurprisingly, is that as the banks push customers towards digital payments, and the use of cash declines (which it is doing at a rapid rate in Australia), Armaguard is making heavy, and unsustainable, losses.