Review of Banknote Distribution Arrangements: Issues Paper Appendix A: Questions for Stakeholders

The Reserve Bank is seeking submissions on the issues discussed in this paper, including stakeholder views on some or all the following specific questions.

Q1: Are there aspects of the current BDA arrangements that affect the ability of existing BDA participants and approved CITs to manage cash distribution in an environment of declining transactional cash use? If so, please provide details.

Q2: Do the current BDA arrangements prevent additional parties who might otherwise wish to do so from participating in wholesale cash distribution? If so, how?

Q3: What role should private participants in the banknote distribution system have in quality sorting? Are there changes that should be made to the arrangements that the Reserve Bank has in place to support the quality of banknotes in circulation?

Q4: How have the cost structures and revenue streams of CIT companies changed as transactional cash use has declined? Are there aspects of cash distribution that have costs that are difficult to reduce as cash use declines, and how significant are these?

Q5: Are there factors that prevent CIT companies repricing their services to reflect rising unit costs? If so, what are they?

Q6: Is there underutilisation in the CIT industry in Australia? If so, how widespread is it (e.g. by region or size of depot)? What is being done, or could be done, to address underutilisation?

Q7: How would you describe the business conditions and issues faced by CIT companies? Are there other strategic issues faced by current or potential participants in cash distribution that have not been covered in this paper?

Q8: To what extent do the responses described in Section 4.3 assist businesses involved in cash distribution with managing the declining transactional use of cash? What other responses are being, or could be, pursued? Are there barriers to innovation in cash distribution?

Q9: What are your views on the options presented in this paper – and do you have other suggestions – to make the banknote distribution system more effective, efficient, sustainable and resilient over the medium term as the use of cash for transactions declines? How might your preferred option(s) be implemented by the industry?

Q10: What are your views on changes that could be made to the current arrangements to make wholesale banknote distribution more effective, efficient, sustainable and resilient over the medium term as the use of cash for transactions declines?