Month: December 2021

The Different Types of Money Safes, Explained

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Money safes are popular for securing assets at work and home. You may be thinking I put my money in a bank account, so I don’t need a safe.

There are many benefits to owning a safe. They provide protection for assets and documents against theft, fire or water damage, and more.

There is a wide selection of safes available to meet your particular needs. You need to consider the safe size, cost, and type when making a selection. Keep reading to learn about some available options.

Depository Safes

There are many kinds of depository safes. They’re the most common “money safe” one would encounter in a business setting. Some depository safes have been specifically designed to fit under counters in order to provide point-of-sale protection. When cash or a check is received the employee drops the funds into a slot in the safe. This is ideal for businesses taking in a steady stream of cash throughout the day like coffee bars and fast food joints..

Still, many more money safes can be found in a business’ back office and are large enough to store cash register tills and bank deposit bags. The TL-30 Depository Safe provides two hours of fire protection and is rated to withstand a serious 30 minute attack by would-be-theives. The proprietary high-strength concrete safe includes two adjustable shelves, three lock-in bolts in the top door, and two lock-in bolts in the bottom door. The bottom door has an auxiliary lock for dual control or armored car pickup. These kinds of safes are idea for overnight secure storage of cash.

Smart Safes

A smart safe accepts cash, validating and recording it at the same time. It is deemed “smart” because of its ability to connect with point-of-sale software, internet, and back-office systems. This provides you with real-time information about the safe’s contents and provides a paper trail of every transaction.

The Cash Wizard Smart Safe comes in a variety of sizes to fit your needs. The smallest version has one door that includes a single or bunch note reader. The unit includes dead latch locking mechanisms and anti-pry doors.

This safe is a good choice for cash and coin recyclers. The capacity is 1,200 notes and features a CashWizard electronic lock. With a spill-resistant keypad and printer, and 60% thicker steel than competing models on the market, this safe is ideal for coffee bars and fast food establishments as well as retail mall shops, casual dinging and convenience stores too.

The largest version of this safe has three doors, a 4,400 note capacity, and a SafeWizard II electronic lock.

In-Room Hotel Safe

We’re pretty sure you’ve used, or at least seen one of these safes before. Travelers can secure assets such as cash, jewelry, and passports, in an in-room electronic safe. This makes the traveler, not the hotel, responsible for securing their assets.

There are others living in limited space that benefit from storing cash, deeds, birth certificates, and more in the IRC915 in-room hotel safe. Using a 4-digit combination and easy-to-read LED display, the heavy-duty steel construction makes this an ideal choice.

The roomy interior can hold tablets and most laptop computers, making it ideal for college students. With two anchor holes and mounting hardware, full-time RVers will enjoy the ability to easily hide this safe in their rig.

Small At Home Safe

The IRC915’s close cousin, the EST813 electronic safe, is an ideal money safe for your home. It’s small, light and secure, built with 14ga. solid steel and features an E-lock with large LCD display. It can be concealed anywhere throughout your home – in your desk, nightstand, a closet or even your pantry. And while cleverly concealing your safe out of view from prying eyes is your first and best defense against attacks, this safe can also be bolted to the wall, floor or heavy piece of furniture.

BFII Gun Safe

While you may not think about this when seeking a money safe, the BFII safe is the only domestically produced safe of its kind. The smallest version of this safe measures 59.25 x 24 x 21” and will easily handle all your guns, cash, and other assets.

The safe is U.L. certified with RSCII burglary protection. This means the safe will withstand a ten-minute attack by technicians using aggressive tools.

This safe features a ½ solid plate door and is ETL certified to provide 120 minutes of fire protection. An ETL mark means the safe is compliant with the North American Safety Standards.

The ½” thick steel plate door, group 2M lock with proprietary patented hard plate, and TL-15 boltwork with ten 1-1/2” chrome-plated bolts provide security.

Shop for Money Safes

If you are in the market for money safes, visit American Security Products Company and shop our 2021-2022 product catalog We have been in business since 1946 and offer more than 400 standard models for business and home. If you have any questions our expansive  and knowledgeable dealer network has answers and would love the opportunity to earn your business. Find a certified American Security safe dealer near you today and protect what matters most.

NACS: Digital safes streamline cash management tasks while enhancing security and accountability

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From NACS Magazine, 12/1/21

By Jerry Soverinsky

Kalpesh Patel had a problem. As the sole owner of a Southern California gas station, his work was never ending—certainly far more than a full-time job. He faced a cascade of tasks each day, none more important than managing cash. But for the veteran fuel marketer, the cash management process had been fraught with challenges. Sure, he could tackle the chore himself, but as a multi-store owner, he was like the proverbial worker bee in the midst of a non-stop buzz of activity who had to react to any number of problems that might arise each day—on-site and off—making his availability unpredictable at best. And cash management was a daily priority.

Delegating the task, though, carried its own challenges. His few employees were on the honor system and carried little accountability when transferring cash from the register drawer to the store’s “dumb” safe in a back room. Not to mention, the process for his streamlined operation took up valuable time—a scarce resource.

He prioritized finding a solution to automate the time-consuming manual cash management practices, one that would incorporate both security and accountability. “Ideally, the solution would allow me to manage all aspects of the cash we take in from a remote location, such as my off-site office,” he said. “This would free up more of my time each day and allow me to focus on my other businesses.”

After much searching, he joined an expanding group of retailers who have found help—and security—with a smart safe.

Safe Hands

“Smart safes have really grown with the convenience store industry in the past 10 years,” said Rony Ghaby, director of operations for Sectran Security, Inc., a cash-in-transit (armored truck) company. “It’s the perfect solution for retail locations that handle cash.”

A smart safe automates many of the daily time-consuming cash management tasks, such as cash counting and transfers to a store safe. Additionally, it provides the transparency that time-strapped operators like Patel look for when overseeing operations, allowing them remote access to how much cash is handled daily—without fear of miscounts, counterfeits and internal theft. It’s quickly becoming the de facto solution for operators who need an improved cash management process.

“Patel is one of  200,000 plus smart safe owners now in the U.S.,” said Donny McKay, Vice President of Marketing and Engineering of American Security, one of the longest-established U.S custom safe manufacturers. With more than 75 years of experience designing and building high security safes for businesses and residences, American Security entered the smart safe business in 2013 with its CashWizard™️ safe, the model that Patel chose for his stores.

The CashWizard safe hit all the key areas that Patel was looking to address as well as a growing industry issue: shrink. “The smart safe market is critical to combating shrink, a problem for all businesses,” McKay said. “Smart safes help  operators gain efficiency. It comes down to hours and accountability. Traditionally, when people take cash, they put in the till, the till gets full, a manager takes the money to a back office multiple times a day and then prepares a deposit at the end of the day.  Now cashiers are putting the deposit directly into the Smart Safe.

Safe Bet

For The Halal Guys, a popular New York chain of 30 Middle Eastern restaurants, theft was a major concern of its existing cash management process. “Previously, our cash count was wrong, but we couldn’t determine why,” the company said. “Was it due to human error? Manager fatigue? Was someone stealing? Our traditional safe gave us zero cash management oversight.”

By transitioning to CashWizard, the restaurant eliminated the need for managers to count and verify bank deposits by hand, as well as sharply reduced the number of people who had access to the money on hand. We now have “heightened security and more hands-on, clear-cut visibility. The improved efficiency has saved time and money, and everyone likes that, including the investors.”

Safe Space

Using a smart safe like CashWizard to manage cash management is streamlined, secure and efficient. Users log into the safe to activate its functionality, after which cash can be fed directly into it for processing. The unit reads and counts the currency, even flagging counterfeit notes.

Those figures are then transmitted wirelessly to the user’s bank, providing the retailer with nearly instantaneous access to the funds. “As long as a banking relationship is involved, the bank will provide the retailer with provisional credit based on a day’s worth of deposits,” Ghaby said. “For instance, if you deposit $2,000 into the safe on a given day and midnight is configured as the end of day for your store, the safe will transmit a file that contains a breakdown of the funds that are in the safe to the bank. The bank will then review the file the next morning and put those funds into the retailer’s account to use.”

The bank is willing to provide the daily credit because of the reliability of the smart safe. “The safes contain an internal validator that scans and count bills,” Ghaby said. “It gives the bank assurances that the money is in the safe, which is secured from the customer. The only entity that can open the safe is an armored car company.”

For armored car companies like SecTran Security, Inc., the smart safes have sharply reduced their retailer interactions while speeding access to cash. “Without smart safes, we might schedule three days per week service with a retailer,” Ghaby said. “We’d pickup their deposits and transport them to a bank of choice. But smart safes have reduced the necessary frequency to maybe one or two days per week. That increases efficiency for the retailers, allowing them to do other things. At the same time, the revenue is the same.”

If the process sounds too good to be true, for those unaware of the technology, it’s simply a matter of education. “Resistance from retailers is less and less,” said Gaby Widenor, head of business Development for Cash Connect, which manages back-end support for smart safes, including the armored carriers that service them. “This is growing 45% per year, because the merchant sees an opportunity to digitize cash and get same-day access to their bank account.

Safe Side

With most smart safes, retailers can also access a robust online dashboard that provides complete transparency of all transactions, with rich, detailed reports that can be used for tax reporting, too.

“The entire process is automated and precise, eliminating potential bank charges that are associated with miscounts,” McKay said. “As a result it provides complete transparency and accountability.”

“My employees love the safe,” Kalpesh remarked. “Nobody likes to count cash, and the

CashWizard Smart Safe helps automate a good portion of their job. With the Tube Vend Dispenser solution, they can dispense their own change directly from the safe. This allows a single person to run the entire gas station and a convenience store without the need for a manager or myself to be on-premises.”

Safe House

In addition to American Security, there are several high-profile vendors that offer smart safes and smart safe solutions. As you consider your options, you may find it helpful to distinguish their capabilities and standards. “Look carefully at the construction and security features. ,” McKay said. “ What is the thickness of the steel? What is the hardness of the steel?  Are there anti-pry features or dead latch locks? Does the safe tie into your burglary system? There are big differences in how safes are constructed and this is critical when deciding on which one to put in your operation  .”

Whichever solution you settle on, you’re likely to see an immediate improvement in store efficiency and cash flow, two key components to operational success. “Times are changing, it’s important to future-proof your business,” McKay said. “Smart safes can help.”

Jerry Soverinsky is a freelance writer and NACS Magazine contributing writer. See his work at www.jerrysoverinsky.com.

Shrinking Shrink

Smart safes help reduce retail shrink—a growing problem for retailers, said Donny McKay, Vice President of Marketing and Engineering of American Security. “Employee theft is a huge threat that can undermine the profitability of a business. By taking proactive actions and having the right training and systems in place, such as a smart safe, retailers can help reduce their overall annual shrinkage by a large margin.”

According to the National Retail Federation (NRF), store shrink in the U.S. totaled $61.7 billion in 2019, more than a 20% jump from 2018 ($50.6 billion). Employee theft constitutes a growing problem, with retailers apprehending 560 employee thefts annually.

American Security Launches New Keyless Courier App, SureAccess™ to Armored Car And Retail Industries

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Retailers will never miss a courier pick-up because of a lost or forgotten key again, thanks to safe company’s latest patent

 

FONTANA, CA (12/01/2022) – American Security, which in a short period of time has become one of the largest smart safe solution providers in the industry, today announced the launch of its new keyless courier app, SURE ACCESS™.  The invention is the latest patent to be filed by the 75-year-old company which has a long list of patents and industry firsts dating back to the early 1940s. SURE ACCESS™ is the first app of its kind designed with the retailer in mind, ensuring guaranteed access to depository safes without the use of a physical courier key.

In the retail environment, money is deposited daily into a traditional or smart safe that will be removed by an armored courier at a later date. To open the safe, a courier must have the designated key for that safe. But sometimes keys are forgotten, misplaced or a new safe is installed requiring the retailer to purchase a new key.  The courier may not be able to schedule a second trip to the customers’ location for a missing or non-working key which increases security risks and requires the retailer to deviate from their standard cash handling procedures.

“With thousands of safes in the retail environment today, we see first-hand how frustrating a missed pick up can be to store managers, corporate reconciliation departments and cash logistics operators,” commented Donny McKay, VP of Marketing and Engineering, American Security. “The solution was to create an app that eliminated the need for a physical key.”

SURE ACCESS™ is a patent-pending technology that puts safe access in the palm of armored car courier’s hands and is exclusively available with CashWizard™ smart safes and SafeWizard™ smart locks. After enabling the safe with SURE ACCESS™ and assigning the safe to the courier, all an armored courier must do is arrive on site, scan the safe’s QR code with a smart device, and enter a confirmation code on the safe to securely authenticate. The safe verifies the code and unlocks the door.

 

“Features like SureAccess enable our team to succeed every time. Knowing that we don’t depend on a unique key to complete a pickup improves our operational efficiency. Without the need for a key, we can even add unscheduled pickups after the truck leaves the branch,” commented Chris Block, President, SafeDEPOSIT Company, Inc.

The cost to replace a courier key can be more than $100 when considering hardware, labor, and logistics to arrange for a replacement key.  For retailers with hundreds of store fronts, the cost to replace those keys can be staggering year over year. Often times, retailers have to manage coordinating the ordering and shipment of the replacement keys, which takes time away from their main duties.  Missed pick-ups can create tension between the retailer and armored car providers, and SURE ACCESS™ combats that by providing couriers with a tool that gives them guaranteed access every time they approach the safe.

About American Security

American Security, founded in 1946 and based in Fontana, CA, is the largest manufacturer of US-made custom home and commercial safes. American security is the safe brand preferred by more locksmiths than any other brand offering the best in burglary and fire protection for home or office. Our full line of safes include gun safes, high security safes, burglary and fire safes, digital safes, utility safes, depository safes, pharmacy safes, and smart safes. For 75 years American Security has led the safe and security industry in innovation, developing new and patented technology with the help of our customers to help protect what’s most valuable to them. If it’s got be safe, it’s got be American Security.