Standard Bank, Africa’s largest bank by assets, with more than 30% market share in the personal and business banking segment, says clients must ensure that they have an effective cash management plan in place ahead of the coming Easter holidays to mitigate against potential risks at a time when increased spending by consumers is likely to result in higher turnover.

“You don’t want to take risks during the April and May public holidays, which is a very lucrative but stressful time of the year for many businesses, particularly those in the retail segment,” says Ravi Govender, Head of Small Enterprises at Standard Bank. “The good news is that you are able to simply leave the task to Standard Bank, who would like to be your cash manager partner of choice.” 

Standard Bank Business Banking, which is open to any corporate entity with a turnover of R150,000 or more, offers a full suite of cash management solutions to its clients, ranging from basic account, loan and overdraft facilities to a fully-fledged relationship management offering to provide advice and counsel on strategic business banking issues.

In addition, Standard Bank is positioning itself as the leading provider of integrated cash management solutions and is able to offer clients an end-to-end service ranging from cash handling on site via its proprietary AutoSafe device, a cash in transit (CiT) service that includes the ability to collect, count and deposit a firm’s cash within two to four days from the time of collection, all supported by Standard Bank’s extensive cash centre, branch infrastructure and self-service infrastructure.

“We have established solid partnerships with all the seasoned practitioners in the cash in transit industry in order to remove the risk factor of cash management on behalf of our clients,” says Mr Govender.

“As a leading financial services institution, we also have the advantage of being able to offer clients all the ancillary services synonymous with having a business banking account. These range from comprehensive insurance against possible theft of your cash, to cash processing and deposit services. These are of course complemented by the fact that clients can rest easy that the solidity of our balance sheet underpins our cash management offering to further ease any nerves about handing over your hard earned cash to a company you know you can trust.”

Some of the tips that Standard Bank recommends its clients take heed of during Easter include:

Safeguarding your business against risk

• Ensure that your money is secured safely onsite.
• Don’t keep too much money in your till at any one time.
• Check your insurance limits over this peak period and increase this as your cash increases.
• Ensure that your deposits are going directly into your bank account and not into a middle man’s bank account.
• Contact your security company and test to ensure that your alarm and armed response is in working order.
• Install cameras internally.

Staying informed about your cash management processes

• Ensure that you know who your cash receipts are coming from.
• Allocate your cash receipts as soon as possible to ensure that you don’t miss orders.
• Monitor your accounts daily for deposits.
• Deal with any discrepancies immediately.
• Allocate your deposits to your accounts receivable and/or accounting system via your online banking system.
• Reconcile your bank account with your point-of-sale system regularly (daily).
• Touch base with your banker to discuss your particular needs over this period, and to ensure your evolving needs are being met.

Educating your staff about your cash management value chain

• Ensure the safety of your staff by:
• Not allowing them to walk to the bank with large sums of cash.
• Ensuring that they know and follow your business procedures.
• Are vigilant and know what to look out for when handling cash.  Be particularly careful of counterfeit notes over this period.
• Encourage customers to pay with alternative instruments such as cards or EFT rather than cash.
• Free your staff up to focus on customer service by automating cash handling processes in your back office.  Note counters and AutoSafes are particularly useful in this.

Managing your cash handling logistics

• Ensure your CiT service provider can provide additional pick-ups and ad hoc services.
• Vary your cash deposit times.
• Ensure that your staff are trained on the procedure around cash collections i.e. identification of CiT staff and so forth.
• If anything is suspicious about the CiT provider’s collection, ensure that your staff have the correct contact details to enquire and report a problem.

Extracting the most value from your cash management system

• Take note of the public holidays and the impact that these will have on cash deposits into your bank account.  Make sure you keep cash values to a minimum.
• Ensure that you deposit your cash as quickly as possible to get the benefit of the cash balance in your account.
• Use self-service channels like the Standard Bank’s Automatic Note Accepting machines rather than branch to ensure that your cash is deposited as soon as possible, and at a time convenient to you.
• Contact your bank about solutions that offer quicker clearing of cash deposits.
• Advise your customers to use the correct references when paying, to ensure quick and correct allocation of money.

“The last thing any client wants over the holidays is a cash management debacle that results in financial harm to the business, harm to staff or customers, or even the loss of life,” says Mr Govender.  “By implementing a comprehensive cash management solution for your business, you can mitigate these risks and ensure that the holiday season is a time of prosperity and happiness.”