With the trend for digital and online banking having gained momentum over recent years, and footfall to banks dropping considerably and as a result, the closure of a large number of bank branches around the UK, access to cash for businesses has been getting harder and harder.
Much-needed facilities such as paying in cash and cheques, cash withdrawals and checking account balances are diminishing at an alarming rate. The decision for many businesses on how to adjust to losing a reliable commodity is tricky especially those in rural communities.
When looking at how businesses should tackle the worsening situation when losing a local bank or building society branch, cash handling experts Volumatic believe bringing the bank to businesses and investing in intelligent technology is the most viable future option.
Volumatic recommends investing in intelligent technology that offers collaboration with a Cash in Transit (CiT) provider and invest in a CiT provider that can offer banking services, meaning retail owners or managers no longer physically need to go to a bank.
Volumatic’s sales & marketing director, Mike Severs, is realistic about what the future holds for banking facilities and is urging businesses to act now to protect themselves.
“While the Post Office has provided an absolute lifeline to everyone, making up the shortfall caused by all the banking closures, and providing a more local banking hub that saves a long journey, the reality is that as more people switch to use these services, queues are getting bigger, transactions are taking longer and for those running a business, they just don’t have that time to waste – especially with all the additional pressures of an already tough cost-of-living crisis,” he said.
“Volumatic recommends that businesses effectively bring the bank to them through an investment in technology like the CCi that can offer both integration with your CiT provider which opens more options for traditional banking services. This technology will make their cash handling more efficient and more secure from day one and the return on investment is extremely compelling – and they won’t need to be concerned about further bank closures either.
“With time being of the essence for most businesses, making a long journey to the next nearest bank or waiting in queues at the Post Office isn’t a productive use of time, plus there is an obvious security risk to both your money and the person taking it to consider,” added Severs.
Volumatic offers a range of cash-handling solutions, including the CounterCache intelligent (CCi), an all-in-one solution that validates, counts and stores cash securely at POS. The company says that with upgraded CashView Enterprise software and its suite of intelligent apps, it can offer a full end-to-end cash management solution.
It does this by providing web service integration with other third-party applications. Volumatic says it currently works with all the UK’s major CiT companies, and UK banks process over three million CCi pouches each year, all of which can provide accelerated credit to accounts.
