{"id":84141,"date":"2025-08-21T04:50:09","date_gmt":"2025-08-21T04:50:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/84141\/"},"modified":"2025-08-21T04:50:09","modified_gmt":"2025-08-21T04:50:09","slug":"international-atm-giant-ncr-atleos-begins-removing-machines-from-tobacco-stores-after-abc-investigation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/84141\/","title":{"rendered":"International ATM giant NCR Atleos begins removing machines from tobacco stores after ABC investigation"},"content":{"rendered":"

Giant international ATM supplier NCR Atleos will remove more than 50 machines from tobacco stores across Australia after an ABC investigation revealed how ATM companies were fuelling illegal tobacco and vape sales<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The New York Stock Exchange-listed company, which boasts of having the world’s largest ATM network, has reviewed its fleet following the revelations, including how private ATM companies had cut deals with local tobacco criminals<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Some tobacco stores have relied on ATMs for cash sales of illicit products, and NCR’s move means, in total, more than 100 machines from multiple suppliers are now being extracted.<\/p>\n

NCR’s specifically includes machines that tobacco store owners can load with cash themselves \u2014 a feature that experts say raises potential money laundering fears due to a regulatory blind spot.<\/p>\n

\"sign<\/p>\n

NCR’s Cashzone ATMs were found in stores selling illegal tobacco. (Supplied)<\/p>\n

Third company to make the move<\/p>\n

The $4 billion company’s decision follows fellow ATM suppliers \u2013 Melbourne-based Next Payments, backed by prestigious investment bank Macquarie Group, and Queensland-based atm2go \u2014 which also began pulling their machines from stores linked to illicit tobacco sales.<\/p>\n

The ABC had found how those companies’ machines and NCR’s green Cashzone ATMs were in stores selling illicit tobacco and vapes in locations including Brisbane, Darwin and Sydney.<\/p>\n

The fraudster, illicit smokes and an ATM giant<\/a><\/p>\n

A New York Stock Exchange listed company is the latest to be found to have links to the illicit tobacco trade after an ABC investigation into how private ATM suppliers are oiling the industry.<\/p>\n

One such store with a Cashzone ATM in Sydney was owned by a man already convicted on 15 counts of illicit tobacco sales; another illegal tobacco outlet in Brisbane was owned by a man once jailed for fraud.<\/p>\n

NCR declined to answer questions about due diligence conducted before placing its Cashzone machines in stores.<\/p>\n

But a company spokesman told the ABC that following a review, “we have chosen to remove a number of ATMs and will be removing self-filled ATMs in tobacco stores, which account for 1 per cent of our fleet”.<\/p>\n

“Additionally, we will continue to review this issue and will remove any ATMs from stores that we believe are linked to illegal tobacco trade.”<\/p>\n

NCR has over 5,300 ATMs across Australia and complied with “all applicable legislation”, he said.<\/p>\n

Loading…<\/p>\n

Doron Goldbarsht, director of the Financial Integrity Hub at Macquarie University, said NCR’s move to withdraw self-loading ATMs from tobacconists “suggests recognition of the risks associated with the machines, particularly around traceability of funds”.<\/p>\n

“Because cash is filled directly by store owners rather than through a regulated provider, such ATMs may present heightened vulnerabilities to misuse, including for money laundering or to facilitate proceeds of crime,” Dr Goldbarsht told the ABC.<\/p>\n

He said that NCR’s move was positive and appeared a voluntary one.<\/p>\n

“This should signal to both government and industry that current oversight may be insufficient, and that stronger regulatory settings or supervisory mechanisms could be needed to mitigate financial crime risks in the ATM sector,” he said.<\/p>\n

\"ATM<\/p>\n

Supplier Next Payments had already begun removing its machines from some stores. (ABC News: Liam Walsh)<\/p>\n

Money laundering concerns<\/p>\n

The ABC has found examples of a man ultimately convicted of proceeds of crime and tobacco offences being able to load cash into Next Payments ATMs.<\/p>\n

Macquarie Group company’s private ATM’s fuelling illegal tobacco trade<\/a><\/p>\n

An ABC investigation finds that among investments raking in the dollars for the Australian-founded Macquarie Group is the nation’s billion-dollar illegal tobacco trade.<\/p>\n

Court records also show a large Darwin cannabis supplier told an underling to load ATMs from atm2go with money from drug sales.<\/p>\n

Some parts of the private ATM industry, including Next Payments, have disputed whether money laundering could occur.<\/p>\n

But a concern is that private ATMs themselves are not captured by anti-money laundering laws, and that dirty money could be loaded into the machines.<\/p>\n

If an innocent person unwittingly withdraws that dirty money, that person’s bank account ultimately credits the same amount cleanly into the private ATM cash-loader’s bank account.<\/p>\n

The original source of the cash does not come under the same level of scrutiny that occurs if criminals try depositing certain amounts of cash in various ways directly into a bank.<\/p>\n

The ABC has found more than 20 stores selling illegal cigarettes with private ATMs inside, and at least five cases of ATM companies cutting deals with businesses tied to men either charged or convicted of offences including illicit tobacco sales.<\/p>\n

\"exterior<\/p>\n

This Riverwood store was selling illegal cigarettes in Sydney this week. (Supplied)<\/p>\n

Sydney store selling $10 packs of cigarettes<\/p>\n

Another example this week was a south-western Sydney store, the Riverwood News Agency and Tobacconist, selling illicit $10 packs of Double Happiness cigarettes.<\/p>\n

The store is registered to a company owned by Rui Chen, who did not answer requests for comment.<\/p>\n

Chen had been convicted and made headlines in 2020 for 15 tobacco sales breaches at the store.<\/p>\n

\"blurred<\/p>\n

An example of the illegal cigarettes being sold for $10. (Supplied)<\/p>\n

He was hit with $4,250 in fines, and reports described authorities having seized 241 cartons and 386 packets of illegal cigarettes, and almost six kilograms of loose leaf chop-chop tobacco \u2014 the local area’s “largest-ever seizure” at the time.<\/p>\n

NCR’s Australian subsidiary had signed a deal with Chen’s company for an ATM in the same store 10 months after he was convicted, mortgage records show.<\/p>\n

Unlike many other stores selling illicit tobacco, the Riverwood outlet this week was selling the cigarettes for the same cash price as an electronic payment.<\/p>\n

The ABC is not suggesting Chen was involved in money laundering.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Giant international ATM supplier NCR Atleos will remove more than 50 machines from tobacco stores across Australia after…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":84142,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[2655,18071,63338,47786,48,47787,1730,43,18068,63339,63335,29882,63334,56452,44,18066,63336,63337,10702,41,39,42,40,8621,21334],"class_list":["post-84141","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-abc","tag-atm2go","tag-cannabus","tag-cashzone-atm","tag-crime","tag-doron-goldbarsht","tag-drugs","tag-headlines","tag-illegal-tobacco","tag-illegal-tobacco-stores","tag-macquarie-university","tag-money-laundering","tag-ncr-atleos","tag-new-york-stock-exchange","tag-news","tag-next-payments","tag-riverwood-news-agency-and-tobacconist","tag-rui-chen","tag-tobacco","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-vape","tag-vapes"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84141","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=84141"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84141\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/84142"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=84141"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=84141"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=84141"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}