Linfox Armaguard Pty Ltd received an ACCC interim direction obliging it to maintain cash-in-transit supply and open its facilities to customers throughout Australia, Yahoo Finance reported. The direction applies until 30 June 2027 and sets price caps that vary by customer size, while non-price terms as they stood at 30 June 2026 must be maintained.
The Reserve Bank of Australia also designated Linfox Armaguard under the Cash Distribution Framework Act 2026, making it subject to that framework's obligations and requirements. Under the act, passed in August, the RBA gained powers to respond to crises and resolve disruptions in cash distribution, while the ACCC took responsibility for overseeing pricing, access arrangements and service-level standards. The legislation allows the RBA to access $400 million to operate Armaguard in a crisis.
Armaguard is barred under the direction from giving preferential treatment to its own operations or related bodies corporate at the expense of independent ATM customers and third-party providers. Existing contracts Armaguard holds with customers remain unaffected by the direction, and those parties retain the ability to reach new agreements on different terms. ACCC chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb said the interim direction balances Armaguard's financial position against the need for price and non-price clarity for retailers, banks and other cash-using businesses, and that absent the regulator stepping in, risks to the ongoing supply and availability of cash in Australia would have emerged.
Armaguard handles approximately 90% of cash distribution across Australia, and the cash-in-transit industry has been experiencing structural decline due to falling cash use. The RBA said the work to put the new powers and responsibilities into practice is being done in close coordination with the ACCC, and that designating Linfox Armaguard equips it with the capacity to intervene if circumstances require, but that the designation itself carries no implication that those powers will be used against the company.
Businesses and customers currently receiving cash-in-transit services or facility access from Armaguard will continue to receive those services under the interim direction at least until 30 June 2027. Independent ATM operators and third-party cash-in-transit providers have a formal protection against discriminatory treatment by Armaguard in favour of its own operations.
Official statements: Reserve Bank of Australia
Reporting: Yahoo Finance
Background: ABC News, SmartCompany
Written by Pick & Scroll News from the reporting and documents linked above.
