In 2017 the Federal Reserve committed to “bringing greater transparency and efficiency to cash supply chain logistics.” This lofty goal has gained incredible traction through the Federal Reserve’s Cash Visibility initiative since then.
In the last five years, Cash Visibility has gone from concept to reality. By tapping into supply chain logistics and best practices, the Federal Reserve created an approach that uses scanning technology to track cash shipments throughout the supply chain. This not only improves efficiency, but also establishes industry standards that yield benefits to all cash supply participants.
The initiative’s progress
Recently the Federal Reserve completed a step that was significant in moving the initiative forward in the industry. During testing the Federal Reserve electronically accepted a What to Expect file, which contained deposit information from a financial institution that was then delivered by a Cash-in-Transit (CIT) carrier. The information received by the Federal Reserve provided details of what would be delivered by the CIT carrier, including the bag number, amount of the deposit by denomination, and the financial institution’s information.
This test was years in the making and marked a significant milestone. Essentially, the result of the test is the electronic manifest, known as an e-Manifest. The e-Manifest was created to replace the industry’s current use of paper manifests. This is when Cash Visibility became a reality.
Participants in the cash supply chain, like Rochester Armored Car, were able to take the necessary steps to adopt this new standard operating procedure.
Cash Visibility brings benefits beyond the expected
The greatest outcome of this new standard operating procedure is an overall improvement in how cash shipments are handled. However, there are many benefits wrapped up in this outcome, including:
- Improved accuracy: Reducing manual data entry reduces the errors that come with it.
- Improved transparency and tracking: The entire supply chain benefits from the ability to exchange information in a standardized way.
- Accelerated service times: The transaction between CIT carriers and the Federal Reserve and customers will be quicker and more efficient.
Rochester is a leader in adopting and implementing industry best practices. For this reason, Rochester completed the Federal Reserve’s E-Manifest Service Readiness Program, which included obtaining its GSI company prefix and global location numbers for all of its branches and cash vaults.
Federal Reserve Cash Visibility Resources
