Retailers in South Africa and Africa are increasingly adopting smarter on- premises’ cash management systems to improve their security and reduce theft and robbery risks. This is partly because there is a significant cash component to Africa’s retail trans- actions, which is expected to increase despite the increasing use of electronic transactions.

However, these systems rely on the close cooperation of retailers, cash management and security companies, as well as financial firms to allow the cash that has been secured to be reflected in the various accounts, either daily or in real time, says global security and cash firm G4S Africa regional president Mel Brooks.

Most retailers want to automate cash manage-ment at their sites – 95% of robberies involve cash, often with the connivance of insiders – and reduce the involvement of people in the counting, float creation, storage and dispatch of the cash, he says.

The company’s cash 360 management system involves automatic counting and verification of cash from a store’s tills before storing it securely. The system then registers the amount of cash counted with the retailer’s financial services firm and generates a receipt for the store. This enables the retailer to use the cash reflected in its bank account immediately, which improves the efficiency of managing cash and information.

“Money management typically requires significant amounts of labour, and manual processes often lead to errors and losses, while also representing risks to the company. Automating the processes eliminates idle cash and the same machine generates the floats for tills, which improves the supply and use of cash on the premises. The retailer can then focus on using its resources to meet customer expectations and demands as effectively as possible.”

A key component of these systems is cash-acceptance technology, which allows the funds deposited into these on-premises systems to be credited to the retailer’s bank account.

“The digital confirmation ‘handshakes’ required to allow for efficient cash management, including reducing deposit and security fees, are possible only when all parties cooperate closely to ensure the systems align and are secure.”

G4S builds the deposit safes for the 360 system in South Africa, but says it has noted significant and growing demand for the system throughout Africa from new clients and existing customers expanding across borders.

The company also operates an in-house cash management and transport system, where it accepts the cash on behalf of banks. This improves the circulation of the cash and reduces the risks of cash disbursement because it does not need to be sent to and then dispatched from a central facility.

Meanwhile, the system improves the manage- ment of information related to cash management and enables the retailer to see how much of the currency it receives daily is counterfeit. This enables retailers to determine trends and responses and provides high-quality information for financial services firms, which helps to determine the specific risks of retailers, subsequently reducing insurance costs.

“G4S continues to work with the financial services and retail sectors to determine their needs and coordinate changes to the comple-mentary systems, which enable new ways of banking and managing cash, including through innovations such as this 360 system,” Brooks concludes.