Month: July 2020

When store employees don’t know how to identify counterfeit bills, all too often they rely on the counterfeit detection pen.

Counterfeit detection pens are commonly used to detect counterfeit banknotes, but fall short of being completely reliable. Authentic currency is printed on paper based on cotton fibers and does not contain the starches that are reactive with iodine. When the pen is used to mark genuine bills, the mark is yellowish or colorless. If, however, the bill is counterfeit and printed on regular paper, the pen will detect the starch and its mark will turn black.

However, even with the use of counterfeit detection pens, many fake bills are accepted in cash registers and cause financial losses that are not easily recouped. It can happen to any business, especially retail businesses. And, even when you report it based on the laws, there’s no guarantee the government will replace it.

Insurance is the only way to recover losses. Without an insurance policy to cover the receipt of counterfeit money, your business suffers the loss. And while insurance is important and certainly smart to have, the advantages of an AMSEC CashWizard Smart Safe are definitely better.

With our technologically advanced CashWizard 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 uses 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.

The United States treasury estimates about $70 million in counterfeit money.

is in circulation, or approximately 1 note in counterfeits for every 10,000 in genuine currency. That’s a lot of funny money circulating and you don’t want it to end up in your till.

By installing the CashWizard Smart Safe at the point of sale, cashiers can validate bank notes while completing the sales transaction.   The CashWizard Smart Safe technology is proven to protect against losses from counterfeit banknotes. By stepping up to the next level of security for your business, you are getting a head start in preventing losses that can easily be avoided.

Contact one of our expert technicians to find out how AMSEC CashWizard Smart Safe can relieve you of the frustration of those unreliable counterfeit detection pens.

What might seem a small worry in modern business, coin shortages are a reality in 2020 thanks to COVID-19.

Just as the COVID-19 pandemic has created shortages in supplies of things we tend to take for granted, the virus has also triggered a shortage of something else we often give little thought to — pocket change.

In the past few months, coin deposits from depository institutions to the Federal Reserve have declined significantly and the U.S. Mint’s production of coin also decreased due to measures put in place to protect its employees.

Because banks around the country are running low on all coins, the Federal Reserve has been forced to ration scarce supplies. Effective June 15, 2020, the Federal Reserve ordered a temporary coin order allocation in all Reserve Bank offices and Federal Reserve coin distribution locations.

While banks are working on several fronts to mitigate the effects of low coin inventories managing the allocation of existing Fed inventories, working with the Mint, as issuing authority, to minimize coin supply constraints and maximize coin production capacity, and encouraging depository institutions to order only the coin they need to meet near‐term customer demand.

It translates into banks that typically dispense 400 to 500 rolls of pennies each week being cut back to just 100 rolls, with similar cutback in nickels, dimes, and quarters. The impact is being felt by businesses such as quick-service restaurants, grocery stores and convenience stores that need coins to stock cash registers and make changes often.

The good news for AMSEC customers who have the convenience of Q&A Payment Solutions change exchange technology is that although banks are limiting the amount of coin each retailer can order, they are not limiting the amount ordered, but rather reducing the amount packed out to the customer.

Retailers can adjust the amount of coin that can be ordered on the AMSEC website or in the Q&A Payment Solutions website to limit the amount of coin order to each bank’s minimum, ensuring they stay in balance.

Retailers using AMSEC technology have less to worry about with the coin shortages created by the pandemic thanks to the partnership with Q&A Payment Solutions. By offering uniformity between your business, your bank, and your armored provider, operations are simplified saving time and energy.

The AMSEC Change Exchange program uses technology that works with various armored providers both national and regional and fully manages the comprehensive change order process. The partnership between AMSEC and Q&A Payment Solutions provides streamlined efficiencies in the otherwise tedious, time-consuming change order process.

AMSEC can help you with all your cash management solutions. Contact one of our experts today. Bring your questions and we will give you answers. Secure, manageable solutions to processing your daily cash transactions is what we do best.