The Sydney Morning Herald today reports that newsagents could be among others slugged $500 a year by the federal government as part of their crackdown on money laundering. The $500 fee and considerable compliance costs would apply to any Austrac registered business. This would snare newsagents offering Western Union services.
If the plan proceeds and newsagents are hit with the costs, I would expect many to opt out of Western Union. This would have significant income ramifications for the ANF.
We opted out of Western Union in my newsagencies last year following a cost benefit assessment and after taking on board the Austrac regulatory requirements. We figured that the offering the service was no longer worth it.