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Why You Should Invest In Tamper Evident Cash Bags for Your Retail Store

August 8, 2021

Many retailers are familiar with the cash handling process, which is a necessary but sometimes time-consuming part of managing retail operations. In addition to counting cash every day and recording these deposits, you must also store and transport cash, often working with a cash-in-transit (CIT) company to move deposits from your stores to your bank.

Along with more common retail security products like EAS and RFID systems, tamper evident bags can improve the internal security of your retail store while also increasing the efficiency of bank transfers. Today we’ll go over how tamper evident bags can support your retail operations using multiple types of security features to indicate tamper attempts and deter theft.

Improve Retail Security with Tamper Evident Cash Bags

Tamper evident cash bags use multiple security features to indicate tampering attempts and deter thieves from trying to open bags to steal cash, making them important retail security products in your arsenal. These tamper evident features are particularly effective in preventing internal theft from employees, who might believe that they can get away with stealing because they have insider information.

However, with multiple tamper evident features at work, tamper evident cash bags can reliably indicate many forms of theft and tampering, facilitating investigations of theft, whether it’s internal or external. By detecting theft and tampering as early as possible, retailers are more likely to deter theft and even catch thieves who have stolen cash.

Streamline Retail Cash Management and Bank Transfers

By using bags specifically designed to store and transport cash, checks and other assets, retailers can create a more efficient and controlled cash supply chain, following their cash deposits from when it is picked up by a CIT messenger to when it’s deposited and added to their bank accounts.

Although traditional money bags are still a popular option amongst retailers, they lack many of the cash management features that make tamper evident cash bags so effective. In addition to having recordkeeping information like serial numbers and barcodes printed on them, tamper evident bags are constructed of durable plastic resin that ensures your cash deposits remain secure during transport.

5 Most Effective Features of Tamper Evident Bags

There are many tamper evident cash bags on the market with various security measures to protect your cash and other assets. Below is a list of the 5 most effective features in tamper evident bags that improve retail loss prevention and cash management.

Invest in Tamper Evident Cash Bags with Large Serial Numbers and Barcodes

Many CIT companies use a digital cash management system to record cash deposits and track their progress through the cash supply chain. Similar to how the barcode transformed retail inventory management, it has also streamlined the process of transporting cash. With barcodes, CIT messengers can scan bags to record the cash deposits they receive and later reconcile them at the cash vault.

Large serial numbers and barcodes are another useful feature of tamper evident bags. Using security cameras, retailers can follow the movement of their cash deposits. They can also use the camera footage to investigate missing or compromised cash bags to see where they might have been tampered with.

Heating and Freezing Attempt Detection

Changes in temperature can compromise the seal on tamper evident bags without damaging the bag — and experienced thieves know this.

However, modern tamper evident cash bags are designed with this weakness in mind. In these tamper evident cash bags, freezing temperatures activate security ink that reveals a high-visibility message (usually in blue ink) to signal a tampering attempt.

Similar technology can also detect if a thief tries to open a tamper evident bag using heat. Along with freezing detection, many tamper evident bags feature security ink that detects heat being applied to the bag, revealing a high-visibility message (usually in red ink) to indicate that heat was used to open the bag.

Water and Saliva Detection Tamper Evident Technology in Cash Bags

In an effort to defeat a tamper evident seal, some thieves have used water or even saliva. Criminals with internal access to tamper evident cash bags, such as employees at a retail store, bank or cash-in-transit company, might use their saliva to weaken the seal of a tamper evident bag and prevent it from closing properly.

Some tamper evident bags have a security feature that uses water- and saliva-soluble inks to detect the use of fluids to tamper with the cash bag’s seal. The bag’s seal features a tamper evident message printed with this ink, and any fluid will smear the ink to indicate a tampering attempt.

Small Openings Prevention

Tamper evident cash bags are usually sealed with a small adhesive flap that sticks to the bag to close it. However, employees who want to save time and space for their cash deposits will often fold the bag in half with the adhesive seal further down, unintentionally leaving an opening at the top of the bag. This opening can allow a thief to reach into the opening and take cash from the bag without leaving a trace.

A triple-seal closure — as seen in the CONTROLTEK TripLOK bag, the most widely used tamper evident cash bag in the cash security industry — makes it virtually impossible to leave a small opening in the bag that can be later exploited.

Tamper Evident Cash Bags with a Microprinting Security Border

Another common security feature in tamper evident bags is the use of microprinting on the edges of the bag. This feature uses a printed design all around the borders of a bag, which can be cut open with a razor blade and resealed to hide the theft.

With this microprinting security feature, you can easily tell if a tamper evident bag was cut open and sealed back up because it is impossible to perfectly line up the tiny pattern of a microprinted security border after cutting it apart.

Upgrade Your Retail Security Products with CONTROLTEK Tamper Evident Cash Bags

For retailers looking for a simple but effective way to manage their cash deposits, tamper evident cash bags are some of the best retail security products available on the market. If you’re considering upgrading your cash handling process with tamper-evident bags, CONTROLTEK can help.

Our line of cash security solutions can help you reduce internal theft, improve efficiency and streamline cash handling. Contact us today to learn more about how our tamper evident bags can support your retail operations.