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Brendan Burge

NamSys Links with IBM

03.15.2010
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TORONTO, March 8 /CNW/ – Cencotech Inc. (CTZ – TSX-V) is pleased to announce that its wholly owned subsidiary, Namsys Inc. (“Namsys”) has entered into an agreement with IBM Canada Ltd. (“IBM”) whereby IBM, initially in North America, will be a reseller of the Company’s “Currency Controller(TM)” software and related products.

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Cash Makes A Comeback

03.11.2010
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For all the stories of the cashless society, Web 2.0 currency revolutions, etc. cash might be making a quiet comeback as the preferred payment method for many of us. In a recent article published in American Banker, the author postulates that recent bank bailouts might be the driver for consumers increased use of cash.

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It Just Feels Funny

03.05.2010
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Having been involved in the currency handling business for many years and having experience in many countries means that I have had the opportunity to handle many different kinds of “paper” money. I placed the word paper in parentheses for a reason, because in today’s world not all currency is made of paper. Australia started the trend away from paper/cotton based currency a few years ago. They were followed by Mexico and a handful of other countries. Now Canada is joining the ranks.

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Cloud Computing for Cash Optimization

03.02.2010
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Transoft International Inc. is pleased to announce the second anniversary of its hugely successful OptimizeCF cloud computing (SaaS) cash forecasting and cost optimization solution.

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The Cost of Cash

02.24.2010
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Recently an associate sent me an article regarding the relative “cost” of different retail payment media – credit cards, debit cards and cash. While the article (reprinted below) makes a convincing argument for cash discounts, it neglects to understand or incorporate the real cost of cash in society. I am sure those of you reading this post will agree with me that there are hidden costs of cash that most of society never sees or thinks about. So, what is the cost of cash?

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De La Rue Teams with Cummins Allison

02.11.2010

Cummins-Allison, Mt. Prospect, Illinois, USA and De La Rue, Basingstoke, UK, today announced a strategic partnership to sell De La Rue high speed currency sorters and Enterprise Cash Management software solutions in the North American region through Cummins-Allison’s extensive nationwide distribution and service network.

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Burroughs is Back!

02.09.2010
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PLYMOUTH, Mich. – Marlin Equity Partners (“Marlin”) is pleased to announce that it has acquired the check and cash automation equipment and related U.S. maintenance, printer and direct supply business of Unisys Corporation (NYSE: UIS) and has subsequently formed a new company, Burroughs Payment Systems, Inc.

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Currency Supply Chain Optimization and Yield Management

01.26.2010
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To tie the concepts of optimization and yield together as it refers to currency we need to understand the need for money. Without some form of money we would have no way to trade. Without trade we would have no commerce and without commerce we would have no way to better our station in life. Betterment of our situation is as fundamental to the human condition as breathing – we all want to succeed and make a better life for our communities (communities of family, friends, neighbours, countrymen, etc.). Therefore the faster we can make money move the more opportunity we have to profit from that movement.

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Is Cash Becoming Obsolete?

01.20.2010
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I have always been a bit of a Luddite when it comes to the prevalence of cash as the favoured payment medium for most common “everyday” transactions. It is simple, inexpensive and anonymous. For these reasons and others I have always maintained that cash will remain king at least through my lifetime. However, the presenter of this speech Mr. Douglas Rushkoff makes some very interesting observations about the origins of cash…

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Overdraft Fees or ATM Fees – which would you prefer?

11.30.2009
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Following from Nicole’s post about the choices US banks are facing in their replacement of overdraft fees comes news from UK banks regarding their choice pending final court rulings on overdraft fees there. With traditional straight back and stiff upper lip, the UK banking industry is prepared to answer the demise of overdraft fees with a reinstatement of ATM fees. Said one UK banking spokesperson, “We are an industry, not a charity. People have to remember that it does not cost nothing.”.

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Overdraft Reform – who wins and who loses?

11.18.2009
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The news hit the wire late last week and now it is official. For those of you who don’t live in the US, a little background before we start. There has been great discussion and debate at the Federal Reserve Bank about changing some of the service fee allowances that financial institutions are allowed to levy their customers. Like other countries (Australia for one, regarding ATM interchange fees) the United States banking regulators have seen the need to start regulating how customers are charged for some of their banking services.

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BAI Retail Delivery Show – an exhibitor’s perspective

11.12.2009

The subject of this post is a little misleading. For the record I want to state officially that I am neither an exhibitor myself nor do I own a company that exhibits at this event. I work for a company that exhibits at this event and as a result of my employment I have found myself attending the 2008 and 2009 events in Orlando and Boston respectively.

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new currency – fresh from the press!

10.05.2009
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Hello faithful reader! For those of you who have been reading this blog since I made my first post almost two years ago you will have noticed many changes. It started off as some things do – simply as an experiment in new media directed at the men and women who slave tirelessly at the business of making sure we all have enough cash in-hand to buy the things we want and need each day.

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if the recession is over can we go back to normal?

10.01.2009

I have heard and seen editorials in the past few weeks warning of the complacency that comes with narrowly escaping an economic depression. These same editorialists are asking the same questions – mostly of our leaders – why are they not warning us of not heeding the lessons we apparently just learned. If this recession was so quick to fix (I said quick, not inexpensive), then why can’t we just continue with our cavalier ways. If it happens again the governments and central banks will just bail us out again, right?

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the recession is over, now get back to work!

09.16.2009

I guess it must be official, if Ben said it. Today at 10:56:40AM Eastern Time MarketWatch started spreading the news, “Fed Chief Bernanke: The Recession is Likely Over”. Watch your words here folks, the vocabulary is littered with exception traps! Here’s another classic, directly quoted from the closing lines of their newsflash, “Bernanke noted that many economists now expect the labor market to recover slowly. But he said this was only a forecast and might be wrong”.

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is cash becoming king again?

09.09.2009

Has the consumer learned their credit-aversion lesson yet? Ask this question of any cash manager at a bank – whether in retail (Branch and ATM) or in vaults and their answer is likely to be in the affirmative. I have not heard from any of my cash management network that the demand for cash has started to fall off in recent months. In fact anecdotal evidence would seem to support the idea that we are all using our cash – and only cash – as a simple yet effective way to control our spending and consequently bolster our meager savings.

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Counting On Currency welcomes a new contributor

09.02.2009

The height of confirmation that one is doing something of meaning for a community (to me at least) is when others want to voluntarily join in to help make it even better. This small contribution to the voice of the currency community has been so confirmed – a second time! First it needs to be [...]

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defining and regulating systemically important institutions

08.12.2009

As readers will know I have noted with interest the gestation of proposed financial institution regulatory and policy changes. First was the question of Who would be made responsible; would it be just one government department?; more than one?; would non-government bodies be involved? After that question was settled we moved on to What were they going to do, to Whom and How? These are the threatening three questions that (in my humble opinion) still cause affected professionals to lose much sleep.

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authenticating currency with numbers

08.07.2009

In a past life I worked for one of the premier currency sorter manufacturers, which is primarily where I cut my teeth in this business. One of the things that impressed me then (and still does now) is the technology that goes into authenticating currency. One technology in particular that I saw as revolutionary was the ability to read the serial number of a note as it flew down a track on a sorter at something like 30 feet per second. The system not only reads the serial number but can compare it to a known database of “authentic” notes and “tracked” notes (the latter having been identified as used in criminal activity).

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Inaugural ICCOS EMEA 2009

07.30.2009

As many of you will know from reading past posts in Counting On Currency, I am a great supporter of the International Commercial Cash Operations Seminar, which is normally held every 18 months or so at a “destination city” in North America.

The organizers of the ICCOS events made a decision last year to expand their very successful formula first to the EMEA region and (soon to be announced) to the Asia region. Based on the success of the most recent even held this past March in Chicago, I am certain that attendees of the first ICCOS EMEA to be held in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

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bidding for my bucks

07.24.2009

Imagine my surprise (and delight at the timely irony) when I discovered the business model that is unfolding as a type of eBay for cash. In this scenario, you register an account with the likes of Licuro.com, Moneyaisle.com or Spaarbod.nl (brush up on your dutch before visiting that last site!) and put your cash up for auction.

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banking on the basics with SmartyPig

07.15.2009

There are few people in the developed world who have not been affected in some way by the economic meltdown that started in ernest last year. One of the fundamental shifts that I see occurring is the real skepticism we now approach our financial services with.

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reduce, reuse and recycle!

07.07.2009

We have all heard the litany of requests from governments, eco-agencies and individuals as they call for the mobilization of the individual to assist in making the planet a healthier place to live. So how does this apply to the currency management supply chain? Interesting question – and one that (surprisingly) has an answer.

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banks are making the move to SaaS

06.23.2009

More and more financial institutions are making the move to utilizing Software as a Service (SaaS) instead of incurring the expense and required internal effort to setup and maintain in-house software solutions. Let me point out that SaaS applications are not about to replace core banking systems anytime soon. However when it comes to managing discretionary services that are free of risk when it comes to identifying personal information (see previous post) financial institutions both large and small are now seriously considering such applications.

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the new single regulator for banks

06.17.2009

Don’t hold your breath just yet, but I think the US Administration may be getting ready to announce the new primary regulator for the banking industry – the Federal Reserve! There are also a few more moves being telegraphed ahead of tomorrow’s announcement.

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can customer data be protected?

06.16.2009

A headline from Finextra caught my attention this week – “Financial institutions have lost battle to protect customer data”. Lost the battle? As in past tense? Oh-oh!!

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to tweet or not to tweet?

06.04.2009

I am at the point of screaming UNCLE! I can not believe the number of friends and associates who, once they discover I have a blog, want to know if I use Twitter. Many of them can’t even begin to describe what Twitter is, beyond something their children use. Equally I can not ignore the overwhelming advice I receive in blog related “help” publications to integrate with Twitter.

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banking on tomorrow in the US – sole-source policy control

06.02.2009

According to a number of stories in recent media (new an traditional) the US Treasury with support from other concerned interests is about to propose what could amount to paradigm shift for the banking industry. According to reports, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and others will be sponsoring a proposal to Congress for the creation of a new government agency whose responsibility will be as the ultimate and only banking sector regulator.

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I trust my bank – then again, maybe I don’t

05.29.2009

Having made a career in sales and marketing the biggest single competitive advantage I have over the sales people with whom I compete is my trustworthiness and my credibility. Oh, there are other attributes that I believe make me effective in my career, but trust is by far the most important. I work very hard to maintain the trust and confidence of my customers and this hard work has served me well by allowing me to continue in this field where many others have withered.

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when is a note or a coin like a seat on a commercial aircraft?

05.21.2009

I could think of a few cute answers to that question, which surely would not suit this occasion. The relevant answer is that both the seat on the plane and the note/coin, cost someone more than their intrinsic value* to provide for your convenience right when you need it. In other words it is a thing of relatively high value, which we need on demand.

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