Durban - Retail cash management and payment solutions company Cash Connect has launched its largest N10K cash vault in Durban.
Cash Connect’s joint chief executive, Richard Phillips, said the new product was a major improvement on their earlier product.
“It provides our clients with high-speed, high-volume capabilities for depositing cash in the store. It will improve the speed and accuracy with which cash is processed in the retail shop.”
“It also materially improves the level of protection of cash and reduces the risk of armed robbery, and is part of the total end-to-end service to reduce the costs of cash handling for the retailer,” said Phillips.
Phillips said, South Africa has approximately R136 billion cash circulating at any given time. 84% of all payment transactions are conducted with cash. In the last year, we saw three bank robberies and reported 152 cash in transit heists, with a further 75 618 business burglaries.
“We have always maintained the philosophy that in the South African context the products need to be robust and able to stand up to the kind of attacks we are exposed to every day, which are very violent. In many instances, the criminals are well-versed in techniques of using plastic explosives. A device designed for a retail store should be one that can withstand that type of attack. From the very beginning we have differentiated ourselves to ensure that everything we put into the market is going to add value in the protection of our retailers,” Phillips said.
An automated cash management and payment solution enables a retailer to deposit cash throughout the day, with a back-end portal allowing the business owner to view and track any transactions. Whilst offering the retailer efficiency, this solution only becomes truly effective when it can act as an effective deterrent and can withstand most of the violent cash crime attacks, which our retail sector experiences every day.
Retailers who consider opting for an automated solution, should ensure their cash is guaranteed from the moment the cash is deposited into the device, whilst the cash is in transit, and until it reflects in their bank account.
Phillips said Cash Connect was doing very well in the province.
“We are growing exponentially across the country and currently processing over R50 billion a year of our customers’ money. We are rolling out between 70 and 100 devices a month. The market has really become aware of the fact that our devices withstand the level of crime,” he said.
Cash Connect said their clients ranged from private large tuck shops to large retailers, oil companies, wholesalers, liquor wholesalers, fast food outlets and other traditional cash-handling businesses.
Cash Connect’s general manager for development and manufacturing, Pierre Liebenberg, said the new vault was revolutionary as it did not have the traditional hinge-door mechanisms found in most safes.
“It’s drawer-based door opens like a filing cabinet. It’s a fully categorised safe using high speed validators and capable of accepting up to 300 notes a minute,” said Liebenberg.
“This vault is built to a SABS category 4 security standard, which means it can withstand a concerted attack by criminals for at least an hour. Someone coming in with an angle-grinder, chisels and hammers will not be able to breach it in an hour. It can then take someone over four to six hours to achieve a penetration,” he added.