Safes getting ‘smarter’ in battle against cash skimming
In 2020, retailers and franchise owners are already pulling out all the stops to make it easier for shoppers to pay quickly and easily for those items on their shopping list. Mobile wallets, debit and credit cards and, of course, online shopping has for years eaten away at the rate of instore cash payments.
But while online shopping is growing, a 2019 survey of holiday shoppers in Philadelphia by Deloitte found that at least 36 percent of shoppers surveyed planned to shop in-store, which is consistent with 2018’s data. Shoppers continue to use cash, so store owners need to find fast, efficient and safe ways to easily collect, count and deposit their cash transactions.
For all-size retailers and franchises like McDonalds, Pizza Hut and Panera, shrinkage and cash register skimming are a reality. In 2018, shrinkage for retailers amounted to $46.8 billion, and 33 percent of that shrinkage was employee theft. So, if strong cash controls aren’t in place, cash will grow legs and walk out the door either in the pockets of dishonest employees or in the hands of thieves.
So it’s clear: in order to remain in the black this year store owners need to rein in cash theft. But how? The answer, of course, lies in technology.
Smart Safes
Anyone who’s been behind a store counter or in the back office of a retail store has probably seen those heavy, bulky safes under a drawer or in a desk in the manager’s office. Retail safes have been an easy way to rotate large bills out of the till
and away from dangerous thieves. But at most stores, employees are the ones who count the drawers and safes, which creates temptation and a risk point for skimming.
Internet-connected smart safes, however, are changing the way cash is being counted all together and streamlining the way stores can safely and accurately manage cash. A good smart safe solves these four key cash challenges:
Money is out of employee hands quickly: Cash has multiple touch points and smart safes reduce these touch points. Cash usually flows from buyer to employee to cash register and back to employee who counts it, puts it in the deposit bag, and has the potentially
dangerous task of taking the cash to the bank. Smart safes cut the money handling down to three steps – buyers hand cash to employees, employees deposit cash into the smart safe, and the retailer receives credit for the funds validated by the safe directly into their back account.
A highly accountable system: Smart safes include a digital bill validator that checks for counterfeit cash and also provides a real-time count of the contents going into the safe. Many smart safes provide unique codes that track which employee and till is deposited into the safe ensuring cash totals match.
Continuous data field for store owners: Let’s say your business is booming and you can’t wait on the smart safe providers and armored trucks to pick up the contents of your safe; you need an updated report and the
cash in your account tomorrow. Fortunately, today’s smart safes have 24hour data and daily bank deposit feeds, something safes weren’t doing 10-15 years ago. Real-time reports are readily available to see all deposits, how much money was inserted, the denomination, and when the cash was collected for pick up. Many smart safe servers also will simply credit the contents of the safe directly to the storeowner’s bank account rather than using the oldfashioned method of having a store employee travel with another employee to deposit the cash in the bank. This new, streamlined process means your employees are safer and there are fewer opportunities for cash to pass through multiple hands.
External theft solution: It’s a store owner’s nightmare to get robbed, but thankfully with smart
safes having to hand over physical cash to a thief is increasingly uncommon. Once bills are inserted into the secured smart safe, they cannot be extracted, leaving criminals disappointed and on to their next heist. And when a thief knows they are going to be unsuccessful in robbing one location, they’re less likely to go back.
Knowing that you are actively protecting your business against cash theft not only grants you peace of mind, it allows more time for you to focus on continuing to grow your business. And, that’s good for store owners who hoped for a robust 2019 holiday season and improved efficiency in 2020 and beyond.