Businesses in every industry are constantly at risk of receiving counterfeit money in exchange for goods and services. To guard against this, many banks and other financial institutions rely on banking supplies like counterfeit detector pens to identify counterfeit bills as early as possible.
According to data compiled by the United States Department of Treasury, roughly $70 million in counterfeit bills are in circulation within the country, which is about one note in counterfeits for every 10,000 in authentic currency. As you know, the government will not exchange counterfeit bills for real ones, so any losses associated with counterfeit bills must be written off as theft.
A counterfeit money detector pen is a bank’s first line of defense against counterfeit bills. But how does a counterfeit money detector pen work to protect your business’s assets and reputation?
How Does a Counterfeit Detector Pen Work?
A counterfeit money detector pen uses special ink to determine a bill’s authenticity. The ink contains iodine, which reacts with the starches in standard printer or copier paper, which is made of wood pulp. However, most genuine banknotes are printed on paper made of cotton or linen, which does not contain any starches.
Although there are many simple ways to identify counterfeit money, using a counterfeit bill detector pen is much easier. You just need to use the pen to make a mark on the bill. If the bill is printed on wood-based paper, the ink will create a black stain, indicating it is probably counterfeit. When the ink is used on real banknotes, the bill will not change color at all.
It is important to note that a counterfeit detector pen is a foolproof safeguard against counterfeit money. High-quality counterfeit banknotes are typically not printed on standard printer paper. Expert counterfeiters often invest in industry-grade printers and materials, so it is unlikely that a counterfeit detector pen’s ink would react with those bills. However, a counterfeit money detector pen is a highly effective first line of defense against counterfeit money.
How Counterfeit Money Detector Pens Help Banks Protect Their Assets
Banks, credit unions and other financial institutions are known for their reliability, security, and trustworthiness. Without this reputation, consumers and businesses would not trust banks to protect their money. That’s why these organizations need high-quality banking supplies to secure and transport cash and other assets.
Although it’s a simple tool, a counterfeit bill detector pen is a crucial component of any business that handles cash, particularly banks, which play a big role in cash circulation. Below are some of the ways that counterfeit detector pens help banks protect themselves from counterfeit money:
Identify Counterfeit Money Immediately
As mentioned earlier, counterfeit detector pens are a quick and easy way to identify counterfeit bills. Sometimes banks and other businesses only check large bills over $20 because putting cash through a counterfeit detection machine can be a time-consuming process. However, with a counterfeit money detector pen, it becomes much easier to test bills right away.
Modern counterfeit bill detector pens like CONTROLTEK’s D-TEK counterfeit detector pen combines the reliability of iodine-based ink with an ultraviolet LED light to verify the authenticity of a bill in other ways. For example, genuine U.S. banknotes are printed with a security thread that glows a specific color under UV light.
Sometimes counterfeiters print directly on authentic banknotes, which would enable them to bypass a counterfeit money detector pen’s iodine-based ink. However, by shining a UV light over the bill, you would be able to see if the security thread’s color aligns with the denomination printed on the bill and confirm its authenticity.
Prevent Counterfeit Bills From Entering Circulation
Identifying counterfeit money as early as possible is the best way to prevent fake bills from entering circulation. Banks handle huge amounts of cash that are transported between consumers, businesses, cash-in-transit companies and the Federal Reserve. With tens of millions of dollars of counterfeit U.S. currency in circulation, banks are sure to come across counterfeit bills in their operations.
A counterfeit bill detector pen is only one tool in your arsenal of banking supplies. Although the combined use of iodine-based ink and UV light in the D-TEK counterfeit detector pen can help you identify some counterfeit money, it is always best to check large amounts of cash with a counterfeit money detector machine, which can also verify credit cards, drivers’ licenses and other important documents.
Protect Banking Assets and Avoid Loss
As trusted financial institutions, banks have to protect more than just their clients’ assets; they also need to protect their reputation as secure organizations that store cash and other valuables.
If a bank doesn’t catch counterfeit money as soon as it enters their operations, they become responsible for that money, which must then be written off as a loss due to theft. For consumers or businesses, that means a significant part of the cash they thought was secure is now lost with no way to recover it.
Upgrade Your Banking Supplies With CONTROLTEK
Protecting your business’s bottom line means investing in a counterfeit bill detector pen you can rely on. CONTROLTEK is known throughout the business world as the industry’s leading developer of counterfeit money detection technology and offers a variety of products to help businesses improve their security.
Accurate and affordable, the D-TEK counterfeit detector pen is the classic screening tool for your first line of defense against counterfeit bills before moving on with other methods of counterfeit detection. Please contact us to learn more.