When most people think of bank vaults, they think about the safety deposit boxes in which their money is stored. But did you know that even the smallest of bank vaults can house enough cash to make a significant haul for bank thieves? And that the smallest and safest of banks often hold as much money as the biggest of banks? Although, banks usually don’t hold the huge piles of cash that you might expect to find. Banks don’t make money by keeping cash stored in vaults, they make money by lending that money out again.
For the safe keeping of bank notes, security seals are often used. For more information on the right type of Security Seal to use for this purpose, visit a site like Acme Seals
The safest way to store your cash is to keep it in a physical security vault. But what type of vault should you use? The most important part of any physical security vault is the lock. You want to be sure that you have enough security to prevent a burglar from accessing the cash.
Once you have created a physical security vault, the next step is to install a locking door. You can choose from an array of metal locks that can be locked with a key or fingerprint. Finally, you need to add a keypad, either wired or wireless. Many banks operate a time delay for the opening of cash stores for additional safety.
The bank protected by the desert
Vaults, guards and alarms are only part of what keeps cash safe. In Coober Pedy, South Australia, the surroundings do much of the work. The town is home to one of the world’s largest opal mining areas, and miners deposit their finds and earnings in the local bank, so it holds a great deal of money. It has a large vault, few guards and only a small police presence, yet it has never been robbed.
The reason is the escape route. The town is surrounded by desert, where summer temperatures can reach almost 50 degrees Celsius, and nights can drop to near freezing. The terrain is flat and featureless, so there is nowhere to hide and any getaway vehicle would be easy to spot and identify.
Even a thief who made it out would face anti-money laundering checks, which flag suspicious activity such as unusually large deposits, making stolen cash very hard to use.