The country’s smaller banks say they are angry at being excluded from negotiations about the future of Armaguard and are pushing for their larger rivals to pay for more of the cost of providing cash in remote areas.

Armaguard, the only major cash transport business in the country, is owned by billionaire businessman Lindsay Fox’s Linfox logistics group. But it has repeatedly warned that its business model is unsustainable and has been negotiating with the big banks and retailers, through the Australian Banking Association, to set up a mechanism to create reasonable returns.