Cashless bank branches: will they reduce the need for surveillance and security?

November 2014 Integrated Solutions, Surveillance, Financial (Industry)

World branch banking is undergoing a transformation. The number of people choosing online banking, mobile banking or self service areas over doing their bank errands in a traditional bank branch is increasing. This gives banks the opportunity to increase their operational efficiency by restructuring their channel strategy and revise the type of services that their traditional bank branches offer.

One step in this direction is to make some branch offices completely cashless, handling only consultations and similar activities while customers are directed to different self service areas for withdrawal or deposit of cash.

This phenomenon is seen particularly in Sweden, where three of the four major banks have a significant number of cashless branches. Nordea has approximately 50% of their branches as cashless while the figure for SEB is almost 60%, and rising.

Even though Sweden has come very far compared to many other traditional bank markets, there are examples around the world where this is starting to be implemented. For example, National Irish Bank implemented cashless bank branches from 1 November 2011 and First National Bank (FNB) opened their first cashless branches in Johannesburg in 2012.

The main reason for cashless branches is that handling cash is very expensive and there is a significantly higher cost in branches carrying cash compared to those who choose to go cashless. Cash also poses greater security risk and banks are actively trying to reduce cost and risk by moving the cash to ATMs and self service areas.

However, the need for surveillance in bank branches will not diminish even when there is no cash handling for several reasons:

Money is not only coins and notes, it is ones and zeros as well. Banks handle a large amount of electronic money every day and the requirements for security around this money handling are very high. Banks need to comply with regulations both internal and external – HR, unions etc. – and these regulations don’t change easily.

Bank robbers are not always part of an organised crime syndicate, but sometimes simply individuals that act in despair and on impulse. Robberies also occur in cashless bank branches as the robbers don’t know beforehand that the branch doesn’t handle cash.

There is an increasing level of threats towards bank personnel, specifically in branches that are not carrying cash and that are mainly focusing on consultations. The limited availability of cash creates frustration as well as perceived bad advice for investments on a stock market in turmoil.

Bank robberies are not the only threat towards bank branches however. Internal fraud is also a possible threat in which video surveillance is an efficient way of detecting, if not deterring. Surveillance is also necessary to curb vandalism, another issue banks will need to continue deal with.

Last but not least, compliance must also be to taken into consideration where changes in legislation actually could be imposing camera usage independently of whether or not the bank branch has cash or not.

When debating whether or not surveillance in modern cashless bank branches is indeed necessary – the answer is yes. In terms of evolving security needs, banks will need to be smarter when choosing their surveillance system. Moving in the direction of IP video surveillance will enhance security and give banks the flexibility they need while maintaining cost efficiency.

Another appealing side is of course the possibility to be alerted when potential crimes are taking place, or about to. Bank video surveillance goes from just producing forensic evidence to actually preventing crime before it happens. IP video surveillance provides a flexible platform to meet ever changing environments in the banking sector, allowing banks to continuously evolve their security with future-proof solutions, staying one step ahead of crime.

For more information contact Axis Communications, +27 (0)11 548 6780, [email protected], www.axis.com



Credit(s)




Share this article:
Share via emailShare via LinkedInPrint this page



Further reading:

Next generation of AI-powered video telematics
IoT & Automation Surveillance Transport (Industry)
Webfleet, Bridgestone’s fleet management solution in South Africa, has launched Webfleet Video 2.0, an AI-powered solution designed to enhance fleet safety, security, compliance with local regulations and operational efficiency through real-time video insights.

Read more...
Continuous AML risk monitoring
Access Control & Identity Management Security Services & Risk Management Financial (Industry)
AU10TIX, launched continuous risk monitoring as part of its advanced anti-money laundering (AML) solution, empowering businesses to detect behavioural anomalies and emerging threats as they arise.

Read more...
Key design considerations for a control room
Leaderware Editor's Choice Surveillance Training & Education
If you are designing or upgrading a control room, or even reviewing or auditing an existing control room, there are a number of design factors that one would need to consider.

Read more...
Digitising security solutions with AI and smart integration
Regal Security Distributors SA Technews Publishing Integrated Solutions
The Regal Projects Team’s decades of experience and commitment to integration have brought the digital security guard to life as a trusted force for safer, smarter living.

Read more...
Smart cities and the role of video security
Surveillance Integrated Solutions
As cities around the world continue to embrace smart technology, including IoT that not only connects to people, but also the surrounding activity, the integration of advanced video security systems is crucial to ensure safety and efficiency in environments.

Read more...
Advanced surveillance storage from ASBIS
Infrastructure Surveillance Products & Solutions
From a video storage solutions perspective, SkyHawk drives, designed for DVRs and NVRs, offer high capacity, optimised firmware, and a reliability workload rating of hundreds of terabytes per year.

Read more...
Surveillance to unjam the traffic
Integrated Solutions Transport (Industry)
Traffic is a challenge that affects urban areas across Africa. The city of Johannesburg, South Africa’s most populous city, experiences severe traffic resulting from a confluence of issues, including power outages, faulty traffic lights, and infrastructure theft.

Read more...
The benefits of offsite control rooms
Astrosec Surveillance Integrated Solutions
As the security landscape grows more intricate, control rooms – the crucial hub of security operations – need to adapt. With escalating costs, mounting threats, and a heightened demand for immediate responses, many organisations are reassessing the operations of their control rooms.

Read more...
CCTV control room operator job description
Leaderware Editor's Choice Surveillance Training & Education
Control room operators are still critical components of security operations and will remain so for the foreseeable future, despite the advances of AI, which serves as a vital enhancement to the human operator.

Read more...
Platform to access data and train AI models
Milestone Systems AI & Data Analytics Surveillance
Milestone Systems has announced Project Hafnia to build services and democratise AI-model training with high-quality, compliant video data leveraging NVIDIA Cosmos Curator and AI model, fine-tuning microservices.

Read more...