It is good to see more ATM providers removing ATMs from tobacco shops.
One of Australia’s largest private ATM suppliers, Macquarie Group-backed Next Payments, is removing more than 40 of its machines from suspected illegal tobacco stores.
Next Payments chief executive Tim Wildash announced the move after an ABC investigation found ATM companies were cutting deals with tobacco criminals and installing their machines in high turnover illegal cigarette shops.
Mr Wildash said he had not been aware of the extent of the issue until the ABC’s reporting, and he was insisting the company remove ATMs from the outlets.
A large number of illegal tobacco retailers use card payments terminals provided by banks and fintechs to sell illegal products according to multiple news reports. So, this latest move. by Macquarie, is a good step against this support for illegal tobacco retailers.
The latest move is on the back of this story from the ABC.
Tobacco shop ATMs can do triple the business
The ABC has obtained court documents from a legal action sparked by the turf war between the ATM suppliers over Al Deleymi’s business.
The documents reveal the normally secret returns generated by ATMs in tobacco shops, including how in some cases such machines do triple the business of a normal ATM.
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Transaction rate dwarfs typical ATMs
To prove how much revenue was lost, atm2go offered up details of how fee deals for private ATMs are structured.
Atm2go stated it charged customers $2.50 for each cash withdrawal and that Al Deleymi would earn a cut of each transaction fee of up to $1.30.
One machine at a Caboolture tobacco store recorded 165 transactions daily throughout May 2022, while a second racked up 155. Together, they reaped daily average fees of $408.79.
This transaction rate dwarfs that of typical Australian ATMs, which record an average of only 38 cash withdrawals a day, according to Reserve Bank of Australia figures.
This high transaction rate came despite the presence of other ATMs nearby.
With tobacco products present in around 20% of retail newsagencies, this story is one of interest for our channel.
It is good to see action on illegal tobacco.
I smoke illegal tobacco, not thru my choice, but at the choice of the Govt helping us all stop smoking.
It would be easier to reduce the Tax to stop the illegal smokes in their tracks, also the crimes , Laundering, Arso, etc etc.
But NO the govt takes on the role of a Dictator telling us what we can and cant do.