At a busy tobacconist in the Melbourne suburb of Frankston, a constant flow of customers are walking through the front door and leaving with colourful packets of cigarettes in their hands. It is in stark contrast to the scene at three other tobacconists nearby — and there is one key reason for the difference. One of the customers, a 68-year-old man, walks out and reveals to 7.30 he’s bought 10 packets of illegal cigarettes for $150. The man doesn’t want to be identified but is happy to open his shopping bag and show us his purchase. At just $15 each, the packets are labelled “Manchester”, a brand of tobacco that can’t be bought legally in Australia. He says the same number of plain-packaged legal cigarettes would have cost him more than $300. Tobacco sales in freefall as illicit trade booms Industry data obtained by 7.30 indicates a third of the legal…

In the main committee room of Parliament House, Labor MP Jerome Laxale held up a crumpled $5 polymer banknote. Why, he asked the bosses of Australia’s major banks, if he paid for the same cup of coffee with his debit card did it cost $5.08? He produced a debit card with the inflated price taped to its front to ram home the apparent injustice, like a referee wielding a red card. It was a simple question, and one that is being asked all over the country. Tap-and-go debit card surcharges have become a political firestorm. Robert Duong When a $40 round of drinks shows up on an electronic payment terminal as $40.64, nobody can say precisely where the 64¢ goes. And when these charges are aggregated across the economy, the cents add up to big dollars. Australians spend $1 trillion on credit and debit cards annually, racking up 15 billion electronic…

Yesterday, Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. announced it has reached a definitive agreement to acquire GetGo Café +Markets from supermarket retailer Giant Eagle Inc. According to a press release, GetGo employs approximately 3,500 people and operates approximately 270 convenience retail and fueling locations across Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, Maryland, and Indiana. As part of this transaction, “Couche-Tard and Giant Eagle have agreed to maintain and partner together on Giant Eagle’s widely popular myPerks loyalty program.” “We are excited to welcome GetGo into the Couche-Tard family. As we learn more about the GetGo business, it is clear that it has built a strong and passionate customer base with high-quality stores staffed by talented and engaged teams working to deliver a great experience. We have deep respect for its management and people as well as its outstanding food and loyalty programs. We look forward to growing together as we learn from and continue GetGo’s innovative approaches…

LAVAL, Quebec — As the second-largest convenience store chain in the United States, Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. and its banners — primarily, its global Circle K brand — are well known in the convenience retail space. Couche-Tard’s appetite for acquisitions may be the first attribute that comes to mind when thinking about the Laval-based retailer, which operates in 31 countries and territories, with more than 16,700 stores. However, the company’s willingness and ability to innovate is just as noteworthy. Couche-Tard Inc. has been chosen as the 2024 Convenience Store News Technology Leader of the Year for the company’s use of tech to:  More specifically, a sampling of the solutions the retailer has implemented either across its network or regionally include its Inner Circle loyalty program across 10 U.S. business units; Smart Checkout touchless systems; and in Europe, Pay by Plate. The Technology Leader of the Year award goes to a technology leader (individual or company) that not only contributes to the success of…