Anger brews as Gloria Jeans goes cashless
Bluey crashes Aus Post website, Gloria Jeans goes cashless, and ASIC scores a win for the battlers. Here are five things you may have missed this week.
Bluey bucks sell out in 24 hours
Talk about popular!
Limited edition Bluey Dollarbuck $1 coins went on sale through Australia Post this week but buyers needed to be quick.
The coins were released on Monday, and sold out by Tuesday morning.
The scramble to buy Bluey bucks briefly crashed Australia Post's online shop.
Some Bluey fans couldn't wait.
In July, tens of thousands of unreleased Bluey coins were allegedly stolen from a warehouse in Sydney's west.
Bluey bucks are already hitting the resale market at a considerable mark-up to face value.
eBay has several listings for 10-coin packs Bluey Dollarbucks priced at up to $350.
Anger brews over cashless Gloria Jeans outlets
A consumer backlash has been percolating on social media this week as a number of the nation's 200-plus Gloria Jeans outlets announced they will go cashless from mid-September.
Some commentators have suggested boycotting Gloria Jeans, but the reality is Australians are among the least likely people in the world to pay with cash.
A global survey by tech company FIS shows cash payments represent just 7% of the value of point-of-sale (POS) transactions in Australia - on par with China, and only slightly behind Norway where just 4% of POS transactions involve cash.
That said, now is probably not a good time for cafes to test consumer loyalty.
ABS figures show spending at hotels, cafes and restaurants dropped 2.1% over the past year.
CreditorWatch says food and beverage services is the top-ranked industry for business failures by "a considerable margin".
ASIC wins one for the battlers over rent-to-own appliances
Corporate watchdog ASIC scored a win for the nation's battlers this week, when the Federal Court found Rent4Keeps breached the Credit Act.
Rent4Keeps operated a franchise providing essentials such as fridges, washing machines and mobile phones to people on low incomes or who receive Centrelink benefits, with payments made via instalments.
The catch was that the payments typically saw consumers paying more than four times the market price for these everyday items by the time they got to keep the goods.
One unemployed consumer was charged $4095 over 18 months for a vacuum cleaner that could have been purchased for $999.
The court found the business was providing credit contracts, and the exorbitant costs involved breached the 48% annual rate limit of the Credit Act.
Deputy chair Sarah Court says, "Rent4Keeps characterised its business model as helping people who could not otherwise afford the goods.
"However, by contravening the Credit Act rate cap obligation, hundreds of customers of the Rent4Keeps franchise were charged well above the amount that could lawfully be charged, and more than four times the retail cost of the goods."
Court adds that the case should send a strong deterrent message to businesses that exploit financially vulnerable consumers.
Star Entertainment Group suspended from trading
Embattled Star Entertainment Group, which owns and operates The Star Sydney, The Star Gold Coast and Treasury Brisbane, has been suspended from trading on the ASX after failing to release its financial results.
Facing intense media speculation, the Group's Board of Directors announced on Wednesday that the company is reviewing its financial and liquidity position as it aims to finalise its 2024 financial reports. A release date for the accounts still hasn't been finalised.
It follows the release, a week ago, of a review of Star Entertainment Group by Peter Bell SC, who identified a raft of issues including a 10-month period last year when the company was without appropriate leadership.
It's been a bruising time for shareholders, who have seen the company's shares fall from around $4.00 pre-pandemic to just 45 cents by the time trading halted.
US political dramas dominate investor concerns
Between stubborn inflation, high interest rates and a wobbly economic outlook, investors have plenty on their plates right now.
But a survey of US investors by fund manager Janus Henderson found growing political discord in the US tops the list of concerns for 77% of investor. That's followed by the rising cost of healthcare (67%), national debt (66%) and US-China relations (64%).
Uncertainty surrounding the upcoming presidential election is seeing plenty of US investors shift their strategy to reduce portfolio risk.
One in three US investors have bailed out of shares and into cash or fixed income over the past year, with an equal proportion planning to do so in the year ahead.
Matt Sommer, head of specialist consulting group at Janus Henderson Investors, says the news cycle moves at an incredible pace and headlines can be unnerving.
But he adds, "In times like these, all investors should keep in mind that changes to a portfolio designed to avoid short term volatility can often jeopardise long term goals."
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