Interview on ABC News Breakfast about agreement with Armaguard

Michael Rowland: Let’s get more now on one of the main stories we’re following this morning, that big financial lifeline given to cash transport company Armaguard. It’s been bailed out by the big four banks, Woolworths and Coles, and a number of other major retailers who rely on the service to get their cash. The Australian Banking Association CEO Anna Bligh was involved in those negotiations and joins us now from Sydney. 

Anna Bligh, good morning. What do you make of this deal? 

Anna Bligh: Good morning, Michael. I think this is a great outcome for Australians. There are many, many Australians who are not using cash very much at all, but there are equally many Australians who rely on cash, who want to use it to buy a morning coffee, who need it sometimes when internet systems go down. And, so cash is important, and this is an outcome that ensures cash can continue to flow into the Australian economy. 

Michael Rowland: The deal is only for one year. What happens after that? 

Anna Bligh: Well, I should say Australia is not the only country looking into this problem. Many, many countries around the world are further down this track than Australia is. But there are few countries that have the geographic challenge that we have of getting cash to some of the most remote places on earth. What this lifeline offers is breathing space, not only for Armaguard, but for all of the major players in cash; banks, the big retailers, Australia Post. It allows them to have the breathing space necessary to really think about how to do this better and in a much more cost-effective way. So, it gives Armaguard the chance to do some restructuring and to gain more efficiencies in their business. It gives banks and the big retailers and Australia Post the chance to standardise their service levels, which will make the company, Armaguard, in the long term, we hope, much more efficient, much more effective and much more sustainable. So, this is 12 months of breathing space. At the end of that 12 months, I don’t think Armaguard will look like it looks like now. And the hope is that it will be much more viable. 

Michael Rowland: Ok, you make the very important point, Anna Bligh, that lots of Australians do rely on cash for a range of reasons. But you also know that digital payments are becoming, year by year, much more popular. What are the latest figures the ABA has on the percentage of cash transactions versus digital ones? 

Anna Bligh: Well, it used to be about ten years ago, that more than 70 per cent of all transactions were cash. It’s now down around to somewhere between about ten and 13 per cent, depending which survey you look at. So, it’s come down a lot in ten years and it’s continuing to go down. When we look at some of the European countries that have been using less cash than Australians, it’s down to about four or five per cent, and then it’s just stayed at about that four or five per cent. We anticipate further declines, maybe around a two and a half per cent drop every year in cash until we hit that point where we stabilise. Many Australians still love using cash and this package of support is about ensuring that they can keep using it. But it’s also recognising that many Australians are using less and less and less cash. We’re not going to be cashless any time soon, but we are going to use less cash. So, we have to think about how we deliver it out there to supermarkets and post offices and bank branches. We have to think about how we do that in a much more effective way, otherwise we will have a much more significant problem for the country. So this is a good, pragmatic outcome where the parties, the business and its customers are going to come together and find a better way of doing this that works for a country the size of Australia. 

Michael Rowland: It’s a big country indeed. Anna Bligh, the head of the Australian Banking Association. Appreciate your time this morning. Thank you. 

Anna Bligh: Thanks, Michael.