2. Manual Cash Handling – The Challenges
Exposure Utilization
Managing cash is a vital part of any retail business, especially stores
handling high volumes of currency. To improve cash security and Cash not held in a safe is Manual cash handling is
control, many retailers employ a cash-handling process built on a series exposed, making it vulnerable unpredictable. When a
of checks and balances. First, the cash is counted at the cashier level; to theft. discrepancy or reconciliation
it is then counted again by back office personnel, often twice and under error causes the team to miss
dual custody; and possibly again by the branch manager as part of the Mishandling the daily deposit cut-off, the
deposit preparation process. retailer is denied use of those
Stress, inattentiveness, apathy,
funds until they’re collected
and lack of proper cash-handling
Some of the challenges inherent in this process are obvious; it is time and transferred to the bank.
training can lead to counting
consuming and the opportunity for mistakes are endless. Other challenges errors, mathematical mistakes,
are less apparent, but equally detrimental to the retail environment. Employee Satisfaction
transpositions, and reconciliation
miscalculations. Employees The manual cash process offers
are human, and humans numerous opportunities for thieves
make mistakes. to strike—while cashiers are clos-
ing out their tills, when employees
Productivity are counting the cash, and when
the manager takes the bag of
Counting, recounting, and recon-
cash to the bank. This threat can
ciling cash can take hours a day.
be frightening and can damage
For retailers with multiple stores,
employee morale.
cash handling can consume
countless hours a month that
Treasury Management Expense
otherwise could be contributing
to sales, customer service With manual cash handling, each
and profitability. store is responsible for its own
deposit—a transaction for which
Information Management the bank charges a fee. These
costs can add up quickly,
Manual cash handling translates
Manual cash handling is time consuming and especially for retailers with
to manual recordkeeping and
numerous stores.
limited access to information
the opportunity for mistakes are endless. for cash forecasting and
management.
page 1
Secure Logistics. Worldwide.
3. Meeting the Cash Handling Challenge
Retail safes, or “smart safes”, are quickly replacing manual cash Cash received at POS is inserted
handling in stores throughout the nation and the world. These safes, into smart safe where it is verified
usually installed at the point of sale or in the back office, automate the and authenticated, then passed
cash-handling process while providing secure storage out of criminal into cassettes for safekeeping
reach. In fact, these safes are so sophisticated, they virtually remove
cash handling from a store’s operations except for the few seconds
between accepting it from customers and inserting it into the safe’s bill
Armored transportation provider
acceptor. Once inserted into the safe, the cash is verified, authenticated,
picks up cash and takes it to a
and passed into locked cassettes where it remains safe from theft and
cash vault for processing
mismanagement.
Today’s smart safes do more than protect cash. They also manage
the cash process, counting and tracking cash activity at the Server
Network access connects Server
Server
Server
cashier level for fast, accurate balancing—no counting, re-counting,
locations enabling sharing of Bank Headquarters
Bank Headquarters
Bank
Bank Headquarters
Headquarters
and verifying necessary. And smart safes capture data electronically
information and electronic trans-
for aggregation across a single store or an entire network of
mission of deposit information
locations. The result is a complete cash management solution virtually
eliminating on-site counting and verification. For some stores, this can
save countless hours a month, and multiplied over a number of
Deposit information from multiple
locations, the increase in productivity can be staggering.
stores is aggregated and
deposited to a single bank
Today’s smart safes are so smart, they virtually
remove cash handling from a store’s operations.
page 2
4. The Brink’s Solution: CompuSafe® and Daily CreditTM
Brink’s newest intelligent safes, the Brink’s CompuSafe® 3000 and the Brink’s CompuSafe® 4000, deliver the innovation, functionality, and flexibility to
meet the retail cash-handling challenge, even in the most cash-intensive environments. Combined with Daily Credit, these safes turn cash handling
into a streamlined process protecting cash from theft while accelerating funds availability, improving productivity, and lowering cash-handling costs.
Flexibility For Any Retail Environment: Brink’s CompuSafe® 3000
The flexible Brink’s CompuSafe 3000 Series is available with high-speed single, Available with single note acceptor PC-based touch-screen interface
dual or bulk note acceptors that read and validate bulk U.S. currency, pass- (1,200-note capacity), dual note accep-
Multi-user operation and tracking
tors (2,400-note capacity), and bulk note
ing the notes into locked cassettes for safekeeping. Featuring an easy-to-use
acceptor (2,000-note capacity)
touch-screen display and a PC-based operating system, the Brink’s Dual custody access system
CompuSafe 3000 can integrate with point of sale and back office systems Reads and verifies U.S. currencies Sealed, locked, secure, and
and is completely configurable for just about any cash management need. removable cassettes
Tamper-resistant drop slots for checks
and money orders
Multiple language options at the touch
of a button
A Smart Safe Workhorse: Brink’s CompuSafe® 4000
Currency recognition at 16 bills Built-in envelope and document drop slot
With its easy-to-use touch-screen, fast, accurate currency recognition, and
per second and safe
extra-large 5,000-note capacity, the Brink’s CompuSafe 4000 is the retail
workhorse, verifying bills one at a time or in bulk in the back office at a rate
Automatic counterfeit/damaged Can interface with POS and accounting
of 16 per second.
note detection systems
Verified bills are automatically passed into the safe’s secure cassettes where Touch-screen interface Optional User ID swipe card reader and
they’re stored until a Brink’s armored carrier picks up the deposits and loose coin acceptor/sorter available
transports them to a vault facility for processing. The safe accommodates 5,000-note capacity locked, removable
checks, too, with a built-in document and envelope drop slot and safe. The canisters stored within safe
safe records transactions electronically and generates a detailed receipt.
Detailed receipt with each transaction
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Secure Logistics. Worldwide.
5. Daily CreditTM without Daily Pick-up
Built into each Brink’s CompuSafe 3000 and 4000 is
innovative technology enabling the safes to interface
via remote access with Brink’s, to report cash totals
for each cashier, each store and totals across all
locations. Brink’s, in turn, works with select financial
institutions to facilitate credit based on these elec-
tronically reported totals, giving CompuSafe
customers credit for their deposits faster than by
manual cash-handling methods. In fact, with Brink’s
Daily Credit, most customers receive credit for their
cash, hours, and in most cases, days before the
cash actually reaches the bank.
Meanwhile, Brink’s armored transportation profes-
sionals pick up the cash cassettes from the Com-
puSafe units according to the store’s schedule, pos-
sibly on a daily basis depending on note storage
capacity. The safes may hold several days worth of
receipts allowing the store manager to reduce pick-
up frequency.
Customers receive credit for cash
What’s more, in the electronic world of Daily Credit,
receipts on a daily basis, without having
totals can be transmitted upon day end or at a
predetermined time each day, giving retailers more
to wait for cash to be processed.
flexibility and discretion in meeting bank deposit
cut-off times.
Upon pick-up, the cash is verified and prepared for
deposit. If discrepancies are noted at this time, the
difference between the actual and reported amounts
is debited or credited to the customer account as
appropriate.
page 4
6. Retail Challenges Are No Match
With Brink’s CompuSafe and Brink’s Daily Credit, cash-handling is transformed from a slow, manual process into a sleek, efficient, and productive
automated solution that overcomes the traditional challenges retailers face when dealing with high volumes of cash.
Cash Exposure Productivity Information Management Treasury Management Expense
The Brink’s CompuSafe unit takes With high-speed currency recog- The Brink’s CompuSafe units Brink’s will consolidate deposit totals
cash out of criminal reach and nition and a bulk note acceptor, electronically record and maintain from any number of stores into a
protects with a formed, full-welded both the Brink’s CompuSafe 3000 complete records of each transac- single transaction at a designated
1/4” body, a B-Rate 1/2” solid A36 and 4000 speed cash handling at tion, giving store personnel and bank. This saves the retailer the fees
steel door that’s sledgehammer the point of sale and in the back treasury managers visibility and associated with multiple deposits
and pry bar resistant, and thick, office, and can be integrated with greater control over cash (one from each store) and the time
1” diameter chromed live POS and accounting systems to resources, deposit tracking, required to reconcile and manage
locking bolts. reduce reconciliation and bank and exception reporting. multiple accounts.
deposit preparation time.
Mishandling
Employee Satisfaction
A Brink’s CompuSafe 3000 or
4000 reduces the opportunity for The CompuSafe intelligent safes
error and mishandling with a large, take the burden of cash handling
easy-to-operate touch-screen off employees and keep cash out
interface and detailed reporting of reach of criminals, removing
that helps you audit and track temptation and creating a safer
activity by cashier, by shift, or work environment that boosts
by store. morale and worker satisfaction.
Utilization
The safes enable direct communi-
cation via phone line between the
safe and Brink’s to support Daily
Credit, a service that accelerates
funds availability to turn cash
receipts into usable funds on a
daily basis.
page 5
Secure Logistics. Worldwide.
7. A Solution for Every Department
Brink’s CompuSafes are more than cash safes, they are a complete cash management solution offering benefits for departments and
functions throughout the retail organization, from Loss Prevention, Store Operations and Human Resources, to Treasury Management and
Training. For many retailers, these benefits not only support the decision to invest in cash management technology, they become a driving
force in the organization’s commitment to automated cash-handling efficiency.
Loss Prevention
Treasury Manager / CFO Operations / Store Director
Brink’s CompuSafe enables you to
Built-in communications With the Brink’s CompuSafe
take cash handling out of a store’s
capabilities enable Brink’s intelligent safes, the cash cycle
cash operations, removing temptation
CompuSafe customers to take is transformed from a manual
and virtually eliminating the threat of
advantage of a unique process to an automated flow,
theft or mishandling.
benefit—Daily Credit—that giving back to stores those
provides account credit based on resources—human resources—
electronically reported cash totals. previously dedicated to
In addition, the Brink’s CompuSafe cash-handling procedures. For
simplifies reconciliations, makes it some stores, this can amount
easy to manage cash collections to countless hours, and infinite
across multiple locations, and monetary resources.
enables the consolidation of
CFOs / Cash Managers
banking relationships for lower
overall costs. Automating the cash-handling
process with the Brink’s
Operations / HR CompuSafe 3000 or 4000 virtually
Brink’s CompuSafe creates a eliminates human error when
safer place to work by reducing accepting cash, counting and
time spent on employee cash- reconciling it, deposit preparation,
handling training, procedure etc. These mistakes not only con-
compliance monitoring and tribute to annual loss figures, they
when taking necessary deplete stores of valuable time
corrective actions. and subject cash flow to unneces-
sary bottlenecks.
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