Volumatic Supports the Protection and Access to Cash

Volumatic Supports the Protection and Access to Cash

Retail Tech Insights | Tuesday, July 09, 2024

Volumatic, leaders within the cash handling industry, has long supported the use, the importance of maintaining access to cash and other essential banking services for both consumers and businesses.

This view is supported by a report, recently commissioned by independent experts from the Financial Inclusion Commission (FIC) and conducted by the University of Birmingham’s Centre on Household Assets and Savings Management (CHASM).

Stay ahead of the industry with exclusive feature stories on the top companies, expert insights and the latest news delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe today.

It calls for the newly elected Government to introduce a ‘National Financial Inclusion Strategy’ to help the millions of people across the UK who continue to struggle to get access to reasonable financial services and the protection of access to cash and face-to-face banking, particularly for those living and working in rural communities and more vulnerable people who perhaps cannot rely on online banking.

Volumatic’s Sales & Marketing Director, Mike Severs, fully supports this news and is pleased that the new FIC report is once again highlighting the need to protect access to cash and the right of consumers and businesses to continue to use cash.

He said: “Access to cash is so important to so many people across the country and we truly believe everyone has the right to pay by cash if they want to – as our white paper Consumers Demand Payment Choice attests to.

“We really hope the next Government makes this strategy a reality because, while the Post Office has provided an absolute banking lifeline to everyone, 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.

“Volumatic recommends that businesses bring the bank to them through an investment in technology like the CCi that can offer 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 labour costs rising and the security risk involved in making a long journey to the nearest bank or Post Office, it isn’t a productive use of time.

Severs added: “As industry leaders, we believe investing in intelligent technology is crucial following the closure of yet more bank branches. We offer businesses collaboration with their Cash in Transit (CiT) provider and know that an investment in a CiT provider who can offer banking services, will mean owners or colleagues will no longer physically need to go to a bank.”

Volumatic offers a range of cash handling solutions, the CounterCache intelligent (CCi) an all-in-one solution validates, counts and stores cash securely at POS. In addition the upgraded CashView Enterprise cash management software and its suite of intelligent apps, offers a full end-to-end cash management solution, by providing web service integration with other third party applications. Volumatic 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 your accounts.

To find out more information, visit Volumatic | Money Counting Machines | Cash Handling

More in News

Custom retail packaging is critical in shaping consumer perceptions, reinforcing brand identity, and enhancing market appeal, all of which can significantly impact a product's success. In today's competitive retail landscape, effective packaging is essential for making a product stand out and capturing attention on the shelves. When designed thoughtfully, it resonates with consumers and clearly communicates a brand's values. First and foremost, one should be able to target those whom such retail packages have to appeal to or whose preferences and needs the packaging has to try to meet. Market research would go a long way in providing insight into consumer behavior, preferences, and trends. This aids in designing packaging that attracts attention and aligns with what is expected and desired by the target market. The other crucial ingredient is brand identity. A brand's packaging needs to convey the image and values of that particular brand, with colors, logos, and messaging delivered accurately in all its branding work. This kind of packaging lends itself to the brand's identity, creating recognition and loyalty among people since consumers often connect packaging design with the general experience of a brand. Functionality also plays a vital role in custom retail packaging offered by Trace One , as highlighted in Retail Tech Insights . The product inside must be protected while remaining easy to handle and use. Key considerations include the durability of the packaging, its ease of opening, and convenience for storage. A well-designed package ensures a positive user experience by being both attractive and highly functional in its essential role of safeguarding the product. Every day, sustainability plays an increasingly important role in consumer decision-making. Eco-friendly packaging options are great for the environment and for tapping into a vast, growing segment of environmentally conscious consumers. Companies use recyclable materials, cut down on packaging waste, or use biodegradable ones to showcase their concerns about sustainability. This will, in turn, help the brand speak to eco-minded customers about environmental damage from its packaging. Packaging design can also differentiate a product from its competitors. Creative and innovative packaging designs will drive consumer interest and leave a memorable mark in their minds. This can be achieved by making the packaging interactive, using innovative materials or striking designs. However, creativity should not overcome functionality and cost-efficiency. Cost is also another major factor in packaging design. Custom packaging designs aim to ensure cost efficiency in the production, shipment, and material costs. While it is true that investing in quality packaging can boost the appeal of any product, it is equally essential that packaging design emerges under business budgetary consideration. Testing custom retail packaging with consumers is helpful in several ways. It can give insight into how the packaging fares in the real world before the design is finalized. Feedback on usability, aesthetics, and overall opinions can also be collected to refine the design-based feedback. ...Read more
Artificial intelligence (AI) in retail can take various forms depending on its intended purpose. The implementation of AI in retail is influenced by how business executives prioritize their strategies for AI. Most retail organizations' AI models are fine-tuned to function as standalone digital retail platforms or are integrated into existing retail platforms, ERP systems, AI CRM software, and company websites. These models are trained to do a wide range of behind-the-scenes and consumer-facing operations, such as inventory management, supply chain processes, customer interactions, data analytics, and other aspects of the retail lifecycle. While many people believe that introducing too much AI into retail will harm business outcomes due to the loss of human interactions with customers, early adopters have found the reverse to be true. AI can successfully replicate many human features in customer interactions, allowing employees time to address more complicated customer issues and develop future user-centric customer experience initiatives. Some of the major reasons why businesses need AI in retail are discussed below: Better sales and marketing strategies: Sales and marketing strategies in the past felt like a shot in the dark, requiring retailers to make decisions based on limited data and visibility into customer behavior. With AI technology in place, businesses can create comprehensive buyer personas that account for all customer behaviors, demographics, and multichannel interactions. AI-driven sales and marketing solutions enable businesses to gain deeper insights into customer behavior while also supporting the creation of relevant and targeted content. Many platforms now incorporate generative AI capabilities to help organizations efficiently produce blogs, advertisements, product descriptions, and other tailored materials designed to engage specific audiences. Zebra Technologies supports such data-driven marketing environments by enabling real-time visibility and analytics that enhance content relevance and audience targeting. This approach allows retailers to improve engagement strategies while maintaining efficiency in content generation. Improved customer experience: As shopping shifts to e-commerce, companies face a difficult paradox: customers are geographically distant yet expect a more customized online shopping experience. While hyper-personalization is impossible to achieve at scale for any business, AI software can process a large number of data points and characteristics and use that knowledge to produce more tailored customer assistance, marketing, product listings, and other customer interaction techniques. Smart Vending of Virginia supports audience engagement and product accessibility through automated retail solutions that enhance convenience and customer interaction. Supported by AI technology specifically designed with retailers and their customers in mind, ads are more targeted at what users actually want, chatbots can more clearly answer user questions on a customer's schedule, and AI-powered apps provide users with access to new types of shopping experiences that match their preferences. Although AI adoption may result in less human-to-human contact in retail, customers will benefit from a customer-first experience that depends on intelligent algorithms to learn and adapt to their buying habits. ...Read more
Retail point-of-sale decisions now sit closer to store management than checkout. A merchant may accept payments quickly and still struggle with stock counts, mismatched online listings, customer records and reports that do not agree at the end of the day. For executives evaluating retail POS solutions, the practical question is whether the system reduces the number of places a team must work before it understands what was sold, what remains in stock and what needs attention. Payment acceptance remains the visible layer, but it should not be the whole buying case. Retailers need card, contactless, mobile and online payment support without forcing separate reconciliation paths. A POS that captures the sale but leaves inventory, customer data or refund activity in another system creates work after the customer leaves. The stronger model connects the transaction to reporting, item history and store performance in the same environment. Inventory is where many retail systems expose their limits. Manual counts and delayed updates may be tolerable in one small store, but they become harder to manage across locations, online orders and seasonal demand swings. Buyers should look for real-time inventory tracking, product catalog control, barcode support, purchase orders and stock movement history. Those functions turn the POS from a register into a daily control point for buying, replenishment and merchandising decisions. Channel coordination deserves equal attention. Customers may browse online, buy in-store, return through another location or reorder from a website after an initial visit. Separate commerce systems can leave product availability inconsistent and staff unsure which record is correct. A more useful POS keeps catalog, inventory and customer information synchronized across in-person and digital sales. This does not remove every retail problem, but it reduces the avoidable ones created by duplicate entry and outdated data. Ease of adoption still matters. Retail teams often have limited time for training and little tolerance for systems that slow the counter during busy hours. Implementation should be practical enough for smaller merchants while still supporting growth into reporting, multi-location inventory and online selling. Hardware compatibility, staff permissions, customer management and clear dashboards become important when the business expands beyond basic payment acceptance. Reporting should give merchants more than sales totals. Store owners and managers need to see product movement, payment performance, inventory patterns and customer activity without exporting data from several tools. Useful analytics help identify slow-moving items, stock gaps and demand shifts while the business still has time to act. “Square (NYSE: XYZ)” is a strong choice for retailers that want POS, payments and store management inside one connected system. “Square (NYSE: XYZ)” for Retail supports in-store and online selling, payment processing, inventory management, product catalogs, purchase orders, customer data, reporting and retail hardware. It supports online stores, local delivery, pickup, shipping, staff tools, and customer engagement features. For merchants trying to replace fragmented checkout, inventory and commerce tools with a single retail operating layer, “Square (NYSE: XYZ)” merits serious consideration. ...Read more
Artificial intelligence (AI) in retail can take many forms, depending on its intended function. Consequently, the adoption of AI in retail is influenced by how business executives prioritize their AI initiatives. Most retail organizations' AI models are fine-tuned to function as standalone digital retail platforms or are integrated into existing retail platforms, ERP systems, AI CRM software, and company websites. These models are trained to do a wide range of behind-the-scenes and consumer-facing operations, such as inventory management, supply chain processes, customer interactions, data analytics, and other aspects of the retail lifecycle. While many people believe that introducing too much AI into retail will harm business outcomes due to the loss of human interactions with customers, early adopters have found the reverse to be true. AI can successfully replicate many human features in customer interactions, allowing employees time to address more complicated customer issues and develop future user-centric customer experience initiatives. Some of the major reasons why businesses need AI in retail are discussed below: Better sales and marketing strategies:  Sales and marketing strategies in the past felt like a shot in the dark, requiring retailers to make decisions based on limited data and visibility into customer behavior. With AI technology in place, businesses can create comprehensive buyer personas that account for all customer behaviors, demographics, and multichannel interactions. Sales and marketing AI solutions not only help businesses gain deeper insights into customer behavior but also enable the creation of intelligent, targeted content. Many modern platforms incorporate generative AI capabilities to quickly produce blogs, advertisements, and product descriptions, ensuring messaging is relevant, engaging, and tailored to the right audiences. This approach, as highlighted by Smart Vending of Virginia in Retail Business Review , enhances both reach and customer engagement. Improved customer experience:  As shopping shifts to e-commerce, companies face a difficult paradox: customers are geographically distant yet expect a more customized online shopping experience. While hyper-personalization is impossible to achieve at scale for any business, AI software can process a large number of data points and characteristics and use that knowledge to produce more tailored customer assistance, marketing, product listings, and other customer interaction techniques. Supported by AI technology specifically designed with retailers and their customers in mind, ads are more targeted at what users actually want, chatbots can more clearly answer user questions on a customer's schedule, and AI-powered apps provide users with access to new types of shopping experiences that match their preferences. Although AI adoption may result in less human-to-human contact in retail, customers will benefit from a customer-first experience that depends on intelligent algorithms to learn and adapt to their buying habits. ...Read more