Westpac and Armaguard strike deal for 1700 extra fee-free ATMs

With the shift away from cash-based transactions, the big banks have been reducing their ATM networks. A new deal will give Westpac’s customers free access at Armaguard’s ATMs.

Westpac has done a deal with cash distribution services and ATM operator Armaguard to provide customers with access to its 1700 automatic teller machines free of charge, as operators streamline their networks amid falling demand for cash.

With the shift away from cash transactions, the big four banks have been reducing their ATM networks and selling their ATMs to independent operators like Armaguard and competitor Prosegur, which already has a fee-free cash ATM agreement with Westpac covering about 660 ATMs.

Armaguard proposed to acquire Spanish-owned Prosegur last year, but the deal is likely to increase the cost of access to cash in Australia and is awaiting regulatory approval.

Westpac says the merger would have no impact on their agreements but it is unclear whether the merged entity would reduce their ATM network.

The new agreement will give Westpac’s personal and business transaction account customers access to withdrawals and balance inquiries free of charge at Armaguard’s ATMs. Added to Westpac’s current ATM network, it will give customers access to almost 7000 ATMs, which the bank says will be the largest network of fee-free ATMs of any of the big four banks.

“While the way Australians are banking is changing, access to cash remains important for some consumers,” Westpac’s consumer and business banking chief executive Chris de Bruin said. “This is another significant investment in our customers, aimed at expanding access and making it easier to perform their banking anywhere, anytime.”

Armaguard ATMs are also fee-free for customers of other banks, including ANZ, Bank of Queensland and Suncorp Bank, among others, according to its website.

ATM numbers nationally fell by about a fifth to 25,200 between 2016 and 2021, according to Australian Payments Network, while about 20 per cent of bank branches also disappeared between 2017 and 2021.

With the rise in popularity of digital payments, the proportion of cash retail payments has fallen from 69 per cent in 2007 to 29 per cent in 2019, the last time of the RBA’s payments survey. The Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated that trend.

However, a smaller group of people – 15 per cent at the time of the survey – still used cash for 80 per cent or more of their in-person transactions. This group tended to be older Australians, with lower incomes or live in regional areas, according to the RBA.