ALVARA offers the MünzMarktplatz as the key to cost reduction and customer proximity in cash management
The topic of coin cost development and the search for ways out of the price spiral are also occupying the German Trade Association – HDE e. V. Ulrich Binnebößel, head of payments and logistics at HDE, presented current considerations of the HDE at the specialist congress "Digitalization knows no borders – Cash processes 2.0" in September in Leipzig. In his keynote speech "Payment in Retail," he focused on possible perspectives in the development of cash.
The share of cash turnover has been consistently declining for years, and there is no trend reversal in sight. The share of cash payments in sales is 51.3 percent, and the share of cashless payments is 48.7 percent. At the point of sale (POS) in retail, cash still clearly dominates with 77.9 percent according to a survey by EHI Retail Institute for the year 2016. Small payments up to 20 euros make up the main share of consumer cash payments in store.
Half of the retailers do not yet pay fees for the procurement of their coin rolls, but the proportion is steadily increasing due to cost pressure for cash at banks. Already 37% of retailers pay over 11 cents per roll, but often also fixed fees per year and coin issuance at their house bank. The average roll price is 36.3 cents/roll and varies greatly depending on the procurement source. Value service providers usually offer the lowest roll prices but mainly serve large customers and not the small boutique in the pedestrian zone.
So what to do when the costs of coin management for the retailer are constantly rising? Ulrich Binnebößel concluded his lecture by calling for new forms of coin procurement for retailers to ensure the choice of payment for the customer remains in-store.
He cited the first free marketplace for coins on the Internet, developed by a company in Leipzig, as an example. ALVARA Cash Management Group AG's innovation in cash logistics can be used by any retailer independently of the contractually bound value service provider and the house bank. Thus, the retailer can quickly alleviate their coin shortage and make their orders via mobile device, such as a smartphone or iPad. Adrian Knoch, owner of easyApotheke, from Duderstadt already uses the internet service and assesses: "We can now flexibly order our coins online at any time. We have used the MünzMarktplatz several times and are very satisfied." But banks have also recognized advantages from this digital coin procurement. Savings banks across Germany in Fürstenfeldbruck, Magdeburg, Eberswalde, or Herford and various value service providers already use it for their customers. They offer a digital service that leads to significant cost and time savings in coin management within the bank.
Digitalization is, therefore, a key to cost reduction and greater customer proximity in cash management. Incidentally, the next ALVARA INNOVATION DAYS on the subject of cash management are planned for September 2019, once again in Leipzig.