The Colony, TX, 17th of July, 2009: In these challenging economic times, cash flow is one of the biggest concerns for many businesses. Faster cash flow turnover can mean more money to invest in crucial resources like inventory and people. Now retailers can gain near-immediate credit for their cash deposits before the currency is physically removed from their Armor safes and taken to the bank, eliminating delays associated with transporting currency, thanks to a collaboration between Armor Safe Technologies, Unisys Corporation (NYSE: UIS) and Protea Coin Group, a subsidiary of the Mvelaphanda Group (JSE: MVB).
In 2006, Armor and Protea Coin began deploying GSM devices with Armor safes throughout South Africa. The wireless devices allowed realtime collection of data from Armor safes on a transaction by transaction basis and provided the appropriate parties secure remote visibility of current and end of day totals, armored car collections and diagnostic information concerning the status of the safes. For more than three years, Protea Coin has been enhancing the solution in response to feedback from their customers, banking partners, and internal stakeholders in the program. Today, Protea Coin monitors approximately 1400 Armor safes in South Africa in realtime and provides same-day credit to retailers’ accounts using this robust, mature solution.
At the Independent Armored Car Operators Association conference being held today in Boston, Armor Safe Technologies and Unisys announced that they are working together to build upon that technology and offer it to retailers in the United States and beyond. “In Unisys, I’m confident we’ve selected the right partner to work with us in delivering this capability to banks and armored carriers and to their retail customers in the United States and beyond,” said Larry Robinson, president, Armor Safe Technologies.
Monitored by a secure wireless data network, the solution verifies and records amounts deposited and, using a provided payment interface, allows banks to quickly credit the retailer. Furthermore, it provides retailers with the management of reports by location over the internet and sends email and SMS notifications of critical business events.
Armor Safe Technologies and Unisys are providing the service to retailers through banks and armored carriers looking to augment their cash management offerings. “When it comes to profitably managing cash, every second counts,” said Alan Howard, president, Unisys Payment Systems. “Our new solution provides clear benefits to retailers and carriers, and complements services for banks. Certainly large banks see the benefit, and this can also be a game-changer for community banks, allowing them to compete on an equal footing with larger banks.”
About Unisys
Unisys is a worldwide information technology company. We provide a portfolio of IT services, software, and technology that solves critical problems for clients. We specialize in helping clients secure their operations, increase the efficiency and utilization of their data centers, enhance support to their end users and constituents, and modernize their enterprise applications. To provide these services and solutions, we bring together offerings and capabilities in outsourcing services, systems integration and consulting services, infrastructure services, maintenance services, and high-end server technology. With more than 26,000 employees, Unisys serves commercial organizations and government agencies throughout the world. For more information, visit www.unisys.com.
About Protea Coin Group
Protea Security Services and Coin Security Group, both wholly-owned subsidiaries of Mvelaphanda Group Limited, joined forces in mid-2007 resulting in the formation of Protea Coin Group, a leading provider of security services to the South Africa market that offers a broad range of integrated services to ensure a holistic approach to security. Protea Coin Group was voted one of the top 500 South African Companies by Topco. For more information, visit www.proteacoin.co.za.
About Armor Safe Technologies
Founded in 2002, Armor Safe Technologies specializes in the development, manufacturing and servicing of the industry’s most innovative cash-management systems. Armor safes validate, count and secure cash in cassettes ready for delivery to the bank, establishing an effective closed-loop solution to many of the toughest challenges facing retailers: loss prevention, employee accountability and financial transparency. Retailers around the world rely on Armor’s intelligent safes as a crucial component of their cash management processes. For more information, visit www.armorsafe.com. Armor Safe Technologies is a registered trademark of Armor Safe Technologies, LLC. All other brands and products referenced herein are acknowledged to be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.