Smart safes use smart technology to automatically accept cash, validate bills, record transactions, and store notes in a safe environment. The use of these safes is rising in popularity among retailers, particularly those that handle large sums of cash and can justify the investment and see the greatest ROI.
The smart safe is versatile and can be used for many cash-handling activities.
Note Validation
Smart safes are equipped with advanced counterfeit detection technology. When cashiers deposit notes into the safe at the register, the machine automatically verifies every bill to ensure its authenticity. This reduces the risk of accepting counterfeit bills and being liable for the loss.
Cash Tracking
Manual cash handling often has a lack of accountability. Multiple employees handle the same cash throughout the day. If an error is made or cash goes missing, there’s little data to show what went wrong, when, and by whom.
Smart safes require users to log in via individual IDs and passwords before transactions can take place. This ensures that all cash can be reconciled and audited. The smart safe can help reduce employee theft as accountability is increased and opportunities for theft are reduced. The smart safe creates an automated cash trail.
End-of-Day Reconciliation
Because all incoming and outgoing cash is tracked and accounted for, end-of-day reconciliation and cash balancing to the store’s POS becomes faster and more efficient than ever before. What used to take hours every night can take a few minutes with a smart safe. By expediting the balancing of discrepancies and the preparation of end-of-day deposits, retailers can save on labour costs by reducing the time and cost of cash management.
Visibility and Reporting
Retailers can enjoy better visibility thanks to the smart safe. They can gain insights into their cash usage patterns and can generate a variety of reports, both locally and remotely over a network or cellular communication. The retailer’s managers, loss prevention team, treasury department, and other departments can use the smart safe’s reporting capabilities to their own specifications for enhanced visibility into the cash activities that they’re interested in.
Safety
It’s important to prioritize robbery prevention in the retail setting. A safe’s main responsibility is to enhance security, and the smart safe is more secure than the traditional safe for many reasons. Note cassettes cannot be accessed by anyone but the CIT or service provider. The monitored safe can be checked remotely. Its advanced locking system and anti-lock drilling features also offer an extra level of security above and beyond the traditional floor safe.
In addition, the safety of employees and managers is also improved. There is a reduction in exposure to robbery due to less cash being exposed in tills, and managers no longer have to drive to a financial institution for deposits, with the inherent exposure of robbery or vehicular accidents.
Increased Productivity
Smart safes can also be used to enhance productivity. When employees aren’t wasting their time on non-revenue generating activities, like cash counting and sorting, balancing, reconciling, and depositing, they can be freed up for other more important activities. Both employees and managers can have the freedom to focus on customer service, on securing the next sale, on monitoring the store, and on other roles and responsibilities that are more valuable than cash handling activities in the back room.
Smart safes are versatile automated cash management solutions that help retailers in many aspects of their business operations. They not only keep money and employees safer, but they also validate notes, track cash, allow for visibility and reporting as well as easy reconciliation and end-of-day cash balancing, and enhance productivity.