Month: August 2019

Cash management is a challenge without smart technology to help countermand two problems that frequently occur – counterfeit money and human error.

Counterfeit currency is an enormous problem in the U.S. and abroad. It’s estimated that at any given time as much as $70 million in counterfeit money is circulating in this country. That’s a major problem for retailers and businesses dealing in cash. But there’s another element that plagues cash management in business and often occurs both innocently and blameworthy–human error.

Transactional errors are bound to occur and are often innocently done, but with a process of accountability built into your cash management procedures, the odds diminish greatly, whether unintentional or not. The lack of due diligence and process in cash handling means that problems with bookkeeping, fraud, theft, errors and cash flow are more likely to occur.

Fake Money Hurts Business

Any business can become a victim of counterfeit money, and there’s no easy remedy to finding funny money in your register. You report it to comply with the counterfeit money laws, but don’t expect the government to replace it with the real deal. It won’t happen.

Your best option to recover losses is insurance. Without an insurance policy to cover the receipt of counterfeit money, your business must suffer the loss. And while insurance is important and certainly smart to have, the advantages of the latest smart safe digital technology is even smarter.

Smart Security Pays

With an AMSEC Smart Safe you’re getting the advantages of the MEI SC Advance bill reader. The advanced recognition system with transmissive sensors sees all the way through each note contributing to a higher overall acceptance rate for legal notes while increasing security against fraud.

The sensor use a full spectral analysis with multiple wavelengths of light to look completely through each note and validate its authenticity. And even if the notes have been worn or damaged, these advanced recognition algorithms facilitate the industry’s highest acceptance rate.

Control the Human Error Conundrum

It’s easy to lose count, record numbers incorrectly, skip numbers, and mix up denominations when handling large volumes of cash, especially if your employees are tired or distracted after a long work day. When employees are counting and sorting money at the end of a shift, the risk of accounting errors increases.

Take human error out of the equation and the risk of errors goes down. How? By trusting AMSEC Smart Safe to ensure consistent accuracy in cash handling. You will know who has access and when, helping to prevent fraud, theft and breaches. Without AMSEC Smart Safe your business will be much more vulnerable, running the risk of painful financial loss.

Avoid the Obvious Dangers

Managing security, accounting, due diligence, and accountability are all part of a business manager’s job. But taking the added precaution of ensuring effective cash handling will have widespread benefits for your business, improving efficiency, security, and overall financial gain. AMSEC’s CashWizard Smart Safe  is the answer to a safer, more streamlined way to manage cash.

As more and more states start to loosen their cannabis laws, many marijuana dispensaries are finding themselves facing a unique set of challenges. One of the biggest issues they’re encountering is the inability to acquire a credit accepting merchant account.

This is due in part to the unwillingness of the banks and credit card companies to process marijuana transactions due to the legal grey area that it resides in under Federal law. This has forced many dispensaries to run a cash-only business, which comes with a set of inherent risks for both the shop and the customer.

We’ve come up with five cash safety tips that marijuana dispensaries should take into consideration when creating a risk mitigation plan.

Bank or Credit Union?

Many banks are unwilling to accept cash deposits from legal marijuana sales as they feel there is too much legal risk under the current Federal law. This has led smaller banks, such as credit unions, to jump at the opportunity to work with cannabis retailers.

The U.S. Treasury Department put out a report on March 2018, that stated there were over 411 banks in the U.S. who were willing to work with marijuana dispensaries. As the months go by, that number is growing. This means that no matter what state you’re in, there’s a good chance you’ll be able to find a credit union willing to accept your cannabis cash.

Credit Card Processing Risks

In March 2019, the H.R.1595 – SAFE Banking Act of 2019 was introduced to Congress. It’s intended to provide legal protection to banks and credit card companies who work with marijuana dispensaries. As of this blog post, it’s currently being debated in the House.

As this bill makes its way through Congress and up to the President for a signature, the only other alternative for marijuana retailers is to work with high-risk credit card processing specialists. The problem with this is that they sometimes will use “creative” ways of disguising the transactions.

For example, they might use a different merchant category code, creating a shell company, or outright mislabeling a transaction as “auto repair.” Anyone of these methods resides in a legal grey area and comes with a considerable amount of risk for the merchant and their bank account.

Cash Transportation

Major cash transport companies are often unwilling to work with dispensaries. This has led to a flood of new cash transportation companies that have sprung up to address this problem. These businesses are bonded, highly trained, and well-financed, and specifically service the cannabis industry.

They will arrive at your shop in undisclosed cars and at random times during the week. This randomness helps add an additional layer of security that the bigger armored car companies don’t offer—even if they wanted to.

High-Quality Video and Security Systems

The biggest threat to cannabis companies lies not from outside theft, but internal shrinkage. This is why many dispensaries invest in state-of-the-art 4k high-definition cameras that can help keep shrinkage levels to a minimum.

Live video monitoring by a reputable security company helps ensure that a pair of eyeballs are watching each and every transaction during the business day. This can discourage employees from pocketing products or giving friends an unauthorized discount.

Employers should also invest in training so that their budtenders know the risks that an all-cash business faces, how to detect these threats, and what to do if a situation should arise.

Use a Smart Safe

Smart safes, such as the CashWizard from AMSEC, help save both time and money. Using state-of-the-art technology, a smart safe can help streamline the heavy cash management processes and adds an additional layer of security.

CashWizard helps reduce the time it takes to perform daily counts while incorporating powerful cloud-based technology that provides secure connectivity and access to data that can help dispensary owners make more intelligent business decisions.

Smart Safes by AMSEC

Cash will still be the preferred form of currency for marijuana dispensaries for the foreseeable future. A smart safe can help your cash-based business save time, money, as well as provide peace of mind that your hard-earned income is safely stored in a highly secured safe. If you’d like to learn more about AMSEC smart safes, contact us via our website.

Recent technological advancements have allowed brick-and-mortar businesses of all sizes to start accepting credit cards, digital wallets, and other forms of non-cash payments. This has led to a slight decline in overall cash transactions as many of these companies are now opting to go cashless.

Proponents of this system say that a cashless system saves both time and money by preventing the business from having to count or hold cash on-premises. They also say that the law doesn’t require companies to accept cash. The website of the Federal Reserve’s states: “There is, however, no Federal statute mandating that a private business, a person, or an organization must accept currency or coins as payment for goods or services. Private businesses are free to develop their own policies on whether to accept cash unless there is a state law which says otherwise.”

So why haven’t more businesses jumped on board with a cashless business? As it turns out, there are several key benefits of having a cash-based business that won’t be going away anytime soon. In this blog post, we’re going to look at five benefits of a cash-based business and why you should think twice before going electronic-only.

More Customers

The FDIC reported that around 6.5 percent of all households in the U.S. were unbanked as of 2017. This means that they do not have a bank account, nor any means of paying for purchases electronically. They are a huge, cash-only demographic who cannot patronize a cashless business.

If your business is not in a highly affluent area, you might reconsider going cashless. Even companies that are located in the so-called “upper middle class” neighborhoods still attract customers from all walks of life—including those who don’t have a bank account.

More Security

A cash-based business also lessens the chances of fraudulent activity. Stores that accept multiple forms of electronic payment, such as credit cards, Apple/Android Pay, or other digital wallets spend more time reconciling accounts and can expose themselves to higher risk due to the insecure nature of electronic payments.

While cash-only businesses still run the risk of unknowingly accepting counterfeit money, that risk can be mitigated by using a smart safe that’s equipped with counterfeit detection technology. These types of safes are far more accurate in detecting phony money than a counterfeit detection pen.

No Transaction Fees

Running a cash-based business also helps lessen the fees that companies have to pay. Some credit card and electronic payment companies can have fees as high as 4% of the total transaction. This amounts to tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars every year.

While the convenience of swiping a card may be attractive to a customer, the merchant is the one who will have to eat the fees or pass them onto the consumer. A cash-based business only has a few recurring costs, which may include deposit fees, however, customers are able to mitigate these based on the lending relationship they have with their financial institution. If a customer elects to use armored car transportation, the smart safe helps to reduce the number of pick-ups.

Simpler Accounting

It’s much easier to manage the books for a cash-based business than one that accepts multiple forms of online payments. Credit cards, electronic wallets, and even Bitcoin present additional accounting challenges that require extra time on behalf of the merchant, their bookkeeper, or accountant.

A cash-based business is also very attractive to merchants who find themselves dealing with disputed credit card charges regularly. Just one substantial financial loss can take weeks to resolve and will negate any benefits received from accepting online payments or electronic wallets.

Time-Savings

Another benefit of a cash-based business is that the funds are available the day after they’re deposited into the safe under the counter or in the back room. A smart safe, such as AMSEC’s CashWizard Smart Safe can help save even more time by streamlining the cash management processes which are highly prone to human error.

The time it takes for manual counts is significantly reduced as a cloud-based safe not only keeps track of daily cash volumes but provides comprehensive reports and analytics. They can also offer valuable insights that will help owners make intelligent business decisions.

Smart Safes for Cash-Based Businesses

Cash is still king in this digital age of credit cards and online payments. A smart safe can help cash-based businesses save time, money, as well as provide peace of mind that their hard-earned money is safely stored in a highly secure safe. If you’d like to learn more about AMSEC smart safes, visit our website here or submit the contact form at the bottom for more information.