Pub. 3 2012 Issue 3

www.wvbankers.org 10 There are two ways to reasonably transport cash to and from bank branches, correspondent banks, or the Fed. 1. Cash can be transported by an armored car service. Transporting cash by an armored car service is usually done on a regular schedule and in a way that many people know cash is being transported. The use of armed guards and an armored vehicle make this a reasonable manner to transport cash. 2. Cash can be transported by bank employees using secrecy to help protect the employees and money. If cash is being transported by bank employees, it should not be transported on a regular schedule and should not be transported in a vehicle marked as a bank vehicle. It should be done by different employees, and it should be done in such a manner that few employees and no non-employees know when cash is being transported. The cash should be in a box, sack or other container that does not make it obvious that cash is being carried. Because coin is bulky, it is easier for someone to guess when it is being transported. Bank employees should not transport currency when transporting bulky amounts of coin. When a bank employee is transporting cash, one of the most vulnerable times is when the cash is being carried to or from the vehicle. The shorter you can make this vulnerable time, the better. Employ- ees should not carry cash to the most secluded part of the parking lot where employees normally park because this puts the employee in a very vulnerable situation. Some banks have commercial drive-up windows that allow the employ- ee to drive up to the window to obtain and/or deliver the cash. When a com- mercial drive-up window is not available, the vehicle should first be moved close to the main entrance and then the cash should be taken to the vehicle. One way to make transporting cash safer is to use two employees in separate vehi- cles, particularly when servicing ATMS. In this situation, it is a good idea to have one employee act as a watcher parked in a separate vehicle a short distance away while the other employee services the ATM. The watcher may even want to use a cell phone and have an open line to the bank so that police can be contacted quickly if something suspicious oc- curs. Having two employees in separate vehicles makes it much harder for a crook to control the situation which may prevent the crook from deciding to rob your employees. When employees transport cash be- tween branches, the cash needs to be delivered directly to the recipient branch without stopping to run other errands. Cash should never be left unattended in a vehicle. Most armored car companies have insur- ance for robbery or theft of the bank’s cash while they are transporting the cash. However, if the armored car ser- vice has made stops at several banks, its insurance may not be adequate to cover all the cash being transported. Most banks have insurance coverage for “In Transit” losses. Specifically, Insuring Agreement (C) of a Financial Institution Crime Bond usually cov- ers this risk. While the armored car service’s insurance applies first, the bank’s insurance protects the bank when the armored car service or their insurer cannot or will not make the bank whole for its loss. It is important to have a good under- standing of the conditions for coverage in the bank’s bond so that the bank’s choice for transporting cash does not result in a potentially uninsured loss. The Financial Institution Crime Bond, Insuring Agreement (C) provides coverage for loss from mysterious unex- plainable disappearance, misplacement, and destruction of the cash, as well as robbery and theft during the transporta- Transporting Cash By Charles M. Towle, Senior Vice President, Kansas Bankers Surety Company SECURITY OFFICER’S BY-WORD Fotocrisis / Shutterstock.com