Finance

Moving cash around by companies like Armaguard was already expensive. But the dramatic fall in cash usage has further increased the unit cost of this process.

Retailers and banks are preparing contingency measures in case Armaguard collapses after the money transporter rejected a $26 million bailout from the nation's biggest cash users.

Finance sector upstart Avenue Bank has been granted a full operational licence, allowing the venture to reveal its core product: a streamlined bank guarantee system, promising small and medium enterprises a better service than the Big Four currently provide.

Australian businesses using MYOB will soon make payments through the Stripe system, a move that will help its users focus on what actually matters: serving their customers and easing cash-flow constraints.

Like physical branches, paper bills, statements, letters and cheques once put in the mail, the increasingly parlous state of cash in Australia has again come into full public display.

An inquiry found inflation, questionable pricing practices, a lack of market competition and unrestricted price setting by retailers are to blame for fuelling the increases.

Australia's payment times watchdog has quietly named and shamed the parent company of Regional Express and other ASX-listed giants for failing to comply with its data collection rules.

The Albanese government has committed to speed up payment times for small business, crack down on non-compliance, and name and shame big businesses.

Bizpay, the Australian fintech offering buy now, pay later services for business-to-business invoices, has fallen into voluntary administration.

A March 2021 RBA report found from March 2020 to February 2021, the value of banknotes in circulation rose 17.1% to $97.3 billion because people were holding onto money at home.

SMEs are expecting an average of eight invoices will go unpaid between now and Christmas day, new research shows.

Fresh data showing inflation growth over the September quarter comes as no surprise to small businesses across Australia, which are torn between raising prices and laying off staff, or offering special deals to customers also struggling to keep up with the cost of living.