Engineering efficiency in cash processing

There is a new set of tensions playing out in the cash cycle today. 

Even as demand for cash continues to rise worldwide, its use at the point of sale in some economies is being challenged by payment cards and other digital channels, putting pressure on “the cost of cash.” Questions are also being asked about the carbon footprint of physical cash and how its manufacturing and processing can be made more sustainable. And there is greater pressure than ever to ensure that cash cycles are highly resilient, with the supply and circulation of cash able to withstand the kinds of geopolitical, public-health, and economic shocks that we’ve all seen in recent years. 

Those evolving dynamics put cash centers – in effect, the beating hearts of the money circulation – in the spotlight. This has prompted central, commercial banks, and cash-in-transit companies (CITs) to take a close look at how well their existing cash infrastructures support the wider cash ecosystem while addressing the core challenges of efficiency, sustainability, security, and resilience.

The new objectives for cash centers

That manifests itself in a new operational agenda list for cash centers:

• They want to address skills shortages ¬and rising labor costs by applying higher levels of automation. This will enable them to rely on fewer manual, labor-intensive processes – and even eliminate some process steps altogether – through the introduction of advanced products that enhance efficiency.
• They want to enhance capabilities for the classification and sorting of banknotes during processing, so they can ensure a higher quality of notes in circulation by more accurately detecting unfit or counterfeit notes and pulling them out of the cash cycle. 
• To counter constantly evolving IT threats and thus build greater operational resilience, they want to ensure the security of systems is robust and up to date.
• They want to improve the transparency of the cash cycle through the monitoring, gathering, and analysis of data – all throughout the cycle.
• They are actively responding to the growing pressure to make the cash cycle more sustainable.
• And they want increasingly agile operations, so they can quickly and easily modify processes to deal with different workloads. 

Those are challenges that G+D sees in action every day. The company’s cash systems are present at more than 100 of the world’s central banks and hundreds of commercial cash centers, making G+D the leader in all segments of the high-speed banknote processing systems market. 

And it’s a set of challenges G+D is responding to with the next evolution of its high-speed BPS^® M Systems, BPS^® M^evo. Due for release in early in 2024, BPS^® M^evo features a major upgrade to the System’s core software that will offer major productivity gains and establish a unified and consistent platform for the BPS^® System machines (M3, M5, and M7), a new module for stacking output banknotes in re-usable trays, and a fresh, contemporary visual design.

Taking cash systems to the next level

When it comes to rapidly processing high volumes of banknotes, the G+D BPS^® M Systems are peerless in the cash industry. They can process up to 120,000 banknotes an hour, 24/7, with unchallenged precision for banknote authentication, counting, and sorting. 

In combination with their existing configurable modules, BPS^® M Systems already offer high levels of automation – for banknote loading, banding, bundling, and packaging – helping to minimize the workforce needed inside cash centers. But M^evo goes even further. 

Productivity is the big challenge for most cash center operators. Fixed costs, which account for a high proportion of their total cash operations costs, are rising in absolute terms as the volume of cash being used at the point of sale has declined in many countries. And those fixed costs – largely comprising infrastructure and people – are historically not easy to eliminate.¹

Optimized user interface  M^evo software seeks to address that by introducing a new highly intuitive and modern user interface that is designed to intelligently guide operators through the setup and execution of cash processing. For example, it helps them to quickly resolving error situations. The result is a major leap in productivity, as operators can perform tasks faster. But the smart system also assumes a lower level of skill and training among operators, which is key, given ongoing labor and skills shortages in many countries.

Enhanced security  With M^evo, IT security has been improved with the introduction of an integrated firewall and encrypted data transmission between cash processing systems and customers’ servers. 

Refined banknote classification  Customers also benefit from software innovation via SensorFusion^®, which uses intelligent sensor algorithms to enable more precise banknote classification. Powered by SensorBrain^®, a complementary computer system to BPS^® M, SensorFusion^®’s algorithms evaluate numerous banknote properties simultaneously, merging measurement technologies that cover note thickness, image, magnetism, luminescence, UV, and ultrasound to more thoroughly check the authenticity and condition of banknotes. This results in a more precise classification of banknotes, while ensuring fewer rejected banknotes with less effort involved in manual handling. That greater accuracy also has a sustainability benefit: it means less shredding of banknotes that may have previously been falsely classified as unfit. M^evo software boasts UV detection with resolution that is 30 times higher than previously, as well as differentiation of the UV colors to fully utilize the banknote’s UV features.

Leaner, greener output

But the new functionality of M^evo goes well beyond its operating software. It builds on the existing capability to use standardized G+D NotaTrays for the loading of loose processed notes with the introduction of an additional delivery module designed to handle the output of notes to NotaTrays.

For example, the output module can, among other things, be set up to stack rejected banknotes in a NotaTray^®, with the system now capable of handling 10 times more rejected notes at a time (up to 2,500 notes). That results in a significant reduction in the frequency of operator intervention for the manual removal of rejected notes, freeing up operators to tackle additional tasks or to manage multiple machines. 

Minimizing the intervention and increasing the time the machine is running autonomously is highly valuable to customers, as any interruption of processing time on such large-scale systems to remove rejected notes impacts operational efficiency. G+D estimates that the higher reject banknote capacity results in up to 10 times less operator interaction with machines.

The new module can also be utilized in a more traditional mode – to stack loose banknotes, which have been checked, counted, and sorted, in NotaTrays. 

Filling trays with loose notes is not just leaner, but also greener and more secure. In addition to cutting down on labor- and time-intensive processes such as packaging and unpacking banknotes, it eliminates 
the use of banding and bundling, as well as the shrink-wrapping of notes with single-use paper and plastic. Moreover, the use of robust, sealable, and electronically traceable NotaTrays enhances security. 

“Listening to our customers, driving and realizing the latest, best-fit technology, and thinking holistically across the entire cash cycle – this is how G+D creates innovative solutions,” says Christian Huber, Head of Product and Business Management, High-Speed Processing Systems, at G+D. “Our goal is to co-create a cash cycle that is highly efficient and resilient to future challenges.”

Sample use cases already show that the approach can save up to 175 km of banding material per machine annually when notes are packed in reusable NotaTrays.

Future-proofing the role of cash

G+D is taking an evolutionary approach with M^evo that future-proofs customers’ cash processing environments. To take advantage of its new functionality, customers can upgrade their existing BPS^® M3, M5, or M7 systems with M^evo software, thereby extending the lifetime of those machines – or, of course, purchase a new system.

The machine software is also structured around a layered architecture (with distinct layers for application, adaptions, and machine configuration), so updates containing new features and patches can be provided faster and more conveniently as an ongoing service. 

Such innovation is vital at both an industry level and a societal level. Enhancing and protecting cash processing will maintain cash’s place as an attractive medium for retailers, consumers, and commercial banks. It will also ensure cash retains its critical role as an inclusive means of payment for all parts of society.

Published: 23/11/2023