Fiserv is partnering with cash handling solutions provider NationalLink in an initiative to streamline cash management for merchants in the US.

NationalLink, a merchant services provider formed in 1992, is a major automated teller machine (ATM) provider in North America. It is using Fiserv’s CorPoint cash supply chain management software that gives its cash management platform the ability to work with all smart safes, regardless of manufacturer or location.

CorPoint also provides the NationalLink cash management platform with a centralised view of all cash transactions. The platform is available via commercial banks and directly to large merchants.

Smart safes are used to count money in-store and validate in-store cash payments. They generally only run on proprietary cash management software programmed by their manufacturer, which can make cash management difficult, especially for larger enterprises with smart safes in different locations and from different manufacturers.

Operators typically have to maintain different software subscriptions and spend much time running reports from each machine and switching through the different systems to access deposit information.

A single platform

CorPoint addresses the problem by being able to accept information from any smart safe and also pull together all the input from different safes into one platform, giving the user a complete view of a cash situation.

The software also provides real-time insights into all transactions – including deposits, balances and pickups – and has customisable features to separate data into categories by cashier, denomination, location or other set parameters.

“For many consumers, cash remains a preferred form of payment, but cash is labour-intensive for merchants to manage,” said Shawn Holtzclaw, Fiserv’s senior vice president and general manager of fraud, risk and compliance.

“Merchants are actively seeking ways to improve cash management efficiency, and NationalLink is meeting this demand with a single platform that provides a holistic, hardware-agnostic view of smart safe transactions.”

“The proliferation of smart safes that rely on manufacturers software has hindered the ability for businesses to realise the full potential of these devices, said Sam Kandah, president of NationalLink. “With Fiserv technology we can unify data from different smart safes and across merchant locations to provide the visibility merchants need to manage cash effectively.”