News in Australasia

Direct Charging

On 1st September, 2007 the Sydney Morning Herald ran the following article:

“Fees for using ATMs belonging to banks other than your own will be cut or could disappear altogether under a Reserve Bank plan to abolish the hidden web of fees banks charge each other on these transactions.

From October next year banks will no longer be able to charge each other when non- customers use their ATMs, a system that has been used as the excuse for some banks to charge customers as much as $2.50 per withdrawal. Instead, customer will pay the owner of the ATM, not their own bank. Any fees will have to be disclosed on screen and approved by the user before the transaction proceeds.”

This Chapter held a teleconference in September and had John Simon from the Reserve Bank (RBA) as a guest speaker. John advised “that the RBA wants a level playing field with transparency of ATM fees disclosed by deployers to customers at the time of the transaction”

Cash in Transit

There was a hearing at the Industrial Relation Commission with Justice Marks in mid August regarding the Cash in Transit between TWU & Linfox/Armagard and other parties. It was recommended by Justice Marks that the concerned parties try and come to an out of court agreement and as a result a work committee between Comcare and Workcover was established.

Comcare have developed a Code of Practise and has submitted it to TWU, Linfox, the Banks and Workcover in the ACT at the end August. Basically the objective of this meeting is for all parties to agree to what is acceptable and not acceptable regarding this Code of Practise. The actual Code of Practise will not be finalised for several weeks.

Workcover arranged a working group on the 3rd September, for NSW stake holders, the aim this group is to work out the best safety outcome for all those concerned within the industry. Minute’s from this meeting together with other relevant material has been forward to all members.

Another meeting is schedule for 27th September, 2007.

To read more regarding the Code of Practise for Cash in Transit follow the link:

http://www.workcover.nsw.gov.au/Publications/LawAndPolicy/
CodesofPractice/cashintransit.htm

Strike Force Piccadilly

Strike force Piccadilly has recently undergone staffing and leadership change. Detective Inspector Murray Chapman and Detective Sergeant Con Galea have commenced new duties with the Arson Unit.

Strike force Piccadilly will continue and be led by Detective Inspector Geoff Leonard and Detective Sergeant Leon Don from the State Crime Command, Property Crime Squad.  

Strike force Piccadilly staff will continue to work with stakeholders to reduce ATM theft, including target hardening strategies and recommendations. They will also continue to disseminate relevant information to the industry of any offences detected together with any key findings.

ATMIA Website

We have recently added a Ram Raid section to the ATMIA MiG. Please visit www.atmia.com and login using your username and password. Once you are logged in, click on the MiG and you will see a link for the Ram Raids under the ATM Security & Best Practices section.  Remember the ATMIA website and MiG is a great way to stay current on topics affecting the ATM Industry.