Do you know if you need to register with AUSTRAC? Currently some remitters are not registered, but should be or will need to by 31 March 2026 under the new regime.
- Domestic remitters: If you are a remitter of domestic payments and you are not registered with AUSTRAC because you think it only applies to international remittances, you likely should already be registered.
- Intermediaries: If you are a remitter who is not currently registered with AUSTRAC because you are an intermediary, you will need to be registered by 31 March 2026 because you will be providing designated services as an intermediary when the new AML/CTF regime commences.
- Transferring funds to a customer’s bank account: If you are a remitter who transfers funds to a customer’s bank account or to a credit provider, then you will need to be registered by 31 March 2026 because you will be providing designated services as a beneficiary institution when the new AML/CTF regime commences.
We explain these issues in further detail below.
Domestic remitters
We have heard anecdotally of domestic remitters who are not registered with AUSTRAC because of a belief that only international remitters are captured under the current AML/CTF regime. The source of this belief is unclear, but it appears to be widespread. Nothing in the AML/CTF regime supports this conclusion and, during consultation on the reforms, AUSTRAC expressed the view it is likely to be an incorrect belief.
If you are a remitter who is a non-financier and you accept an instruction for the transfer, or you make the transfer available or arrange for it to be made available under a designated remittance arrangement, then you are likely to be providing a designated service, even if you only remit domestic payments.
You should validate whether you need to register (including seeking external legal advice if necessary), and if you do, you should apply for registration immediately. This is in addition to enrolling.
Intermediaries
Currently, the AML/CTF regime applies to non-financiers who either accept an instruction for the transfer or who make the transfer available or arrange for it to be made available under a designated remittance arrangement.
This means that non-financier remitters who only pass on the transfer message as an intermediary are not captured under the current AML/CTF regime.
However, intermediaries who pass on a transfer message will be providing a designated service under the new AML/CTF regime commencing 31 March 2026 and will need to register with AUSTRAC by that date. These remitters must not provide the intermediary designated service until they are AUSTRAC registered.
Intermediary remitters should therefore apply to register with AUSTRAC as soon as possible given that AUSTRAC can take up to 90 days to assess the application, and if AUSTRAC requests further information, a further 90 days to consider the information. This is in addition to enrolling. See AUSTRAC’s guidance here.
Intermediaries will have limited customer due diligence obligations but will need to monitor customers for unusual transactions and behaviours for suspicious matter reporting purposes, as well as comply with other obligations such as to have a ML/TF risk assessment and AML/CTF policies and follow the travel rule.
Payment providers who deposit the funds with a third party
If you transfer a customer’s money to a bank, you may be providing a designated service under the new AML/CTF Act.
Under the current law, payments providers who are non-financiers are not captured under the AML/CTF Act where they transfer funds to the customer’s bank account, and the bank makes the money available to the customer. This is because the item 32 designated service applies where payments providers who are non-financiers make the money available or arrange for it to be made available to an ultimate transferee. In this circumstance, it is the bank who makes the money available to the customer, not the payments provider.
However, this kind of transfer will be captured as a designated service under the new AML/CTF Act from 31 March 2026. The new item 30 applies to payment providers (including those who are non-financiers) who make the transfer of value available to the payee in the capacity of a beneficiary institution. The new definition of beneficiary institution includes a person who “makes the transferred value available to the payee, under an arrangement with the payee, by depositing the value with a third-party deposit-taker or credit provider.” Accordingly, payments provider who transfer funds to a customer’s bank account will be a beneficiary institution and are making the money available to the payee, even where it is deposited with a bank or credit provider.
