Arca's headquarters is in the US in Mebane, North Carolina, close to the Research Triangle Park. We have many employees working remotely in regions throughout the US and abroad. Our production facilities are in North Carolina and Italy. We also have offices internationally in Italy, France and the UK.
A Cash Recycler is a machine that validates, counts and sorts banknotes that are deposited to it then stores those notes by denomination inside a UL291 rated safe. When the notes are needed again, they are dispensed from the safe to the operator. Both deposit and dispense transactions are controlled by software commands which produce an electronic record of each cash in and cash out transaction on the machine.
Prior to Cash Recyclers, most cash automation devices were Cash Dispensers and only performed the dispense side of a cash transaction. The cash from deposits had to be managed separately. So only half of the cash and cash transactions were automated. Cash recyclers give you more control by automating both cash deposits and withdrawals.
Recyclers in a bank or credit union branches are usually called Teller Cash Recyclers or TCRs because they connect to the teller software system and process cash transactions for tellers, then report the transactions back to the teller software. This creates an integrated cash process that makes cash handling more efficient, accurate and secure.
When a teller selects a cash deposit transaction in the software, the recycler receives the command, automatically processes the cash and deposits it to the safe, reporting the details of the transaction to the teller system. Likewise, when a teller selects a withdrawal transaction in the teller software, the recycler dispenses the cash to the teller according to the amount and denominations specified in the teller software. We go into even more detail here.
You can find cash recyclers in just about any business or institution that manages a lot of cash like banks, credit unions, retail stores, amusement venues, casinos, car washes, etc. All these entities have cash in common but are different segments of our business with slightly different cash automation requirements.
Our Financial customers are retail bank and credit union branches. In financial settings we use the term Teller Cash Recycler or TCRs. Financial institutions use TCRs to manage cash throughout the branch including teller lines, drive thrus, teller pods, offices, merchant windows, etc.
Our Retail customers include amusement parks, retail stores, grocery stores, zoos, and casinos to name a few. Retail businesses use cash recyclers to manage cash in the back office.
Teller Cash Recyclers deliver many benefits to a branch, but the most obvious is the time savings. Each teller typically saves 1.5 to 2 hours per day on cash handling activities. Head tellers and supervisors save even more time.
TCRs automate activities like counting, sorting and validating cash and virtually eliminate human error. And they significantly reduce time tellers and supervisors spend in time-consuming processes like start of day setup, trial balancing, end of day balancing and vault buys and sells. And as a UL291 rated safe, TCRs keep cash out of sight but within reach of tellers for enhanced security.
These benefits improve both staff productivity and operational efficiency, reducing labor and other cash handling costs while tightening cash controls and optimizing cash inventory. Tellers spend less time handling cash and more time interacting with customers. Learn more.
We don’t think so, they’re just different.
Arca offers products with both Rolled Storage Modules (RSMs) and ATM-style stacking cassettes and there are advantages and disadvantages with each. Note storage technology is just one consideration when choosing a teller cash recycler. Here's a more detailed explanation so you can decide for yourself.
The goal of recycling isn’t to store as much cash as possible — it is to store only the cash you need and not a dollar more.
Understanding cash volumes at the local level as well as the manual processes around cash is key to determining the note capacity you need. Manual processes limit the ability to accurately manage inventory requirements. Once you understand the limitations imposed by manual cash processes, calculating the appropriate capacity for a cash recycler is easier.
On average, financial institutions and retailers reduce average cash on hand by 25% - 40% after implementing recycler technology. When selecting a cash recycler, financial institutions and retailers alike should understand the right note capacity to fit their business needs. Learn more.
Yes, a single cassette typically holds more notes than a single RSM. But two RSM drums fit in the space of one cassette so RSM-based TCRs typically have 12 modules versus cassette-based TCRs which are typically limited to six cassettes.
TCRs with Rolled Storage Modules (RSMs) don't have a self-auditing function because they don't need it. A self-auditing feature is only useful (or necessary) if a recycler diverts double picked notes and other errors to a reject cassette inside the recycler. At the end of the day, any notes in this cassette must be accounted for. So, the self-audit feature is necessary to bring the recycler back in balance and hopefully avoid a more time-consuming manual audit of the device.
In recyclers with RSMs, out of balance events due to improper and inaccurate note handling inside the TCR do not happen. Therefore a self-auditing function is not necessary.
Arca Care is one part of Arca’s 5 Point Service Advantage. It is a tool for Arca Technical Services to monitor machine performance, allowing them to schedule preventive maintenance based on actual usage instead of a timeframe. It also identifies potential problems areas so Arca can respond often before the customer encounters a problem. Arca Care works by automatically sending daily usage information, but not any customer data, to Arca’s headquarters in North Carolina where it is monitored by expert technicians.
RSM refers to a Rolled Storage Module. It is the type of note storage technology in most of Arca’s TCRs. In a rolled storage module, banknotes are rolled around a cylindrical drum with mylar tape securing them to the drum. The design tightly controls how the notes enter and exit the module, eliminates double picking, and makes it much more difficult to manually remove notes from the module.
No, RSM technology was introduced in the 1990’s. Standard cassettes came out in the 1970’s with ATM technology and their design hasn't changed much since then.
RSMs were designed to address problems cassette-based TCRs had like double picking and frequent auditing.
Not really. Initially, cassettes can provide a slightly faster note deposit and withdrawal speed. However, cassette-based TCRs have higher reject rates and the friction picking technology they use can cause multi-pick errors. These conditions put the recycler out of balance and increase the total transaction time.
RSM-based TCRs use high-resolution imaging and machine learning algorithms so these devices can tolerate a wider range of currency fitness levels. The higher note acceptance rate and the fact that RSMs can’t double pick notes, means they have far fewer rejects and errors which results in shorter total transaction time.
You can get by with six cassettes but it doesn’t give you any flexibility. Let’s say if you have more demand for a certain denomination, you either have frequent downtime to restock those cassettes or have two cassettes of the same denomination which means you have to manage the left out denomination. With up to 12 RSMs, you can have multiple modules of high demand bills without losing space for all your denomination needs.
Not as important as total transaction time. That’s the amount of time from the teller sending a command until the TCR is ready for the next teller transaction. Lower reject rates, faster command response time, and a shorter bill path consistently gives RSM based TCRs the lowest total transaction times.
Self-audit refers to a TCR’s ability to internally count and validate its own cash inventory, in other words, audit itself. The self-audit feature was added to cassette-based TCRs to address the need for frequent audits.
Not exactly. In TCRs with self-audit, you need to manually account for any notes sent to the divert bin as a result of multi-pick or other errors. To do this, you have to open the safe and remove any notes then account for them in the system before beginning the self-audit process. By opening the safe, you have exposed the cash inside the safe. And with unknown bills in the divert bin, there’s opportunity for an operator to manipulate totals.
Most of our TCRs have rolled storage module (RSM) technology. RSM-based TCRs don’t have self-audit capability because they don't need it. A self-auditing feature is only useful (or necessary) if a recycler diverts double picked notes and other errors to a separate area inside the safe. At the end of the day, any notes in this divert area must be accounted for. So, the self-audit feature is helpful to bring the recycler back in balance and try to avoid a more time-consuming manual audit of the device.
In recyclers with RSMs, out of balance events due to improper and inaccurate note handling inside the TCR do not happen. Therefore, a self-auditing function is not necessary.
Not if it’s more than you need. The capacity of some TCRs is higher than your entire branch cash limit. If you deploy multiple high-capacity TCRs in a branch, you’ll have a lot of wasted space in those devices. And if you only use a single high-capacity TCR in your branch, you’ll sacrifice some of the efficiency gains of cash automation. Branches that deploy multiple TCRs of different sizes and capacities at different work areas in the branch get the maximum benefit from their devices.
Flexibility. You can get by with six cassettes but it doesn’t give you any flexibility. Let’s say if you have more demand for a certain denomination, you either have frequent downtime to restock those cassettes or have two cassettes of the same denomination which means you have to manage the left out denomination. With up to 12 RSMs, you can have multiple modules of high demand bills without losing space for all your denomination needs.
Between efficiency improvements, cost savings and security enhancements, it’s hard to name the single biggest benefit of TCRs. But, in our experience, the collective impact of these benefits results in branches that are more profitable and more customer-focused.
We think so. Branches are a powerful tool in the competitive retail banking space and the pressures to operate these networks more efficiently and effectively continues to increase. Intelligent devices, like TCRs, allow FIs to optimize cash operations so they have more time and money to invest in the evolving needs of their customers.