New APP Helps Blind People Count Money

A new, government-funded cellphone app will help the blind and those with visual impairments count their cash.

Those with Android devices can scan a bill with their phone's camera and the app will read the bill's denomination aloud.

The Education Department and the U.S. Treasury teamed up to launch the free app. U.S. Treasurer Rosie Rios says the "IDEAL Currency Identifier" is intended to give the blind more independence.

There's already a similar free app called EyeNote for Apple devices such as iPhones and iPads. The Bureau of Engraving and Printing says that app has been downloaded more than 8,000 times since its launch last year.  For all your money counting needs visit count-money.com

How to Manage a CASH Drawer

Retailers will benefit greatly by creating a procedure to account for the store's cash. These internal controls are necessary to prevent mishandling of money and to safeguard assets against loss. Not only do strong internal controls promote operational efficiency, they also ensure reliable accounting records.

The process of counting the money, reconciling the receipts and balancing the cash drawer creates an accountability of the day's transactions. This cash management system can be created at the same time store policies are established. 

We supply a  selection of  money counters and  Coin Counters to use when balancing and counting your cash drawers. These machines are faster, easier and more accurate than hand counting.

Why Balance?

Store management or cashiers can pull a sales report at any time during a shift. By adding the beginning cash in drawer to the daily sales figure, a retailer will know exactly how much money should be in the cash register at any given time. This is extremely useful:

• To avoid holding too much cash on the sales floor.
• If the store is robbed.
• When a customer complains about too little change.
• For discovering frequent overages/shortages for particular cashiers.
• To remove temptation of taking cash without documentation from the cash drawer.

How to Balance a Cash Drawer

Balancing a cash register usually takes place at the end of the day or at the end of a cashier's shift. The cash drawer and its contents should be taken to an office or other secluded area to prepare the report. If balancing the drawer after closing, be sure the sales floor lights are off and the door is locked.

Any overages and or shortages should be investigated. Human nature should be taken into account for minor errors and small amounts. However, frequent discrepancies could be sign of employee theft or may indicate further training is required for a particular cashier.

The starting cash on-hand is put back into the cash drawer and stored for the evening, while the deposit is prepared for the bank. All credit card slips, terminal reports and other register receipts can be stapled to the Daily Cash Drawer Report and filed by date.

Separation of Duties

For more accountability, consider using two people to balance the cash register. One person will count the drawer and create the daily cash report, while the other person prepares a bank deposit. Both staff members should sign the report indicating they are responsible for the figures shown. While no system can prevent fraud, this audit trail will help discourage collusion among employees.

At the beginning of the next shift, each casher should be assigned their own cash drawer. Have the cashier recount the cash in the drawer to verify the beginning balance. If accepting checks from customers, create a system to restrictively endorse all checks promptly as received. The internal control cycle of balancing a cash register starts all over.

Counting Machines

We sell a nice selection of money counters and Coin Counters to use when balancing and counting your cash drawers. These machines are faster, easier and more accurate than hand counting.

Woman Claims Walmart Workers Tore Up Her $100 Bills

A Texas woman is suing Walmart for false imprisonment and emotional distress, claiming the store detained her for two hours over counterfeit money that wasn’t counterfeit. Store employees tore up two $100 bills, Julia Garcia contends, then tried to return them to her when a police officer finally confirmed that they were genuine. Garcia was on a Christmas shopping trip for her children in 2010 when a cashier took her $100 bill, decided it was fake and tore it in half before bothering to check it with a counterfeit detection pen, according to the lawsuit. Even then, after the test showed the bill was real and its metal strip could clearly be seen, a manager came over and destroyed a second $100 bill that Garcia offered. The manager then made Garcia wait for two hours at the front of the store for police to arrive, in full view of other customers, the suit contends. When an officer finally showed up, he quickly confirmed that the bills were real and made the manager replace her money — but not before the Walmart employee tried to return the already-torn bills instead. Now, the store has a lawsuit on its hands. “The legal remedies for false imprisonment are the recovery of actual damages such as physical injuries, medical costs, value of lost, misappropriated or damaged property, if any,” says Christopher L. Davis, a consumer litigation and personal injury attorney near Dallas. “A successful plaintiff in a false imprisonment case can also recover damages for humiliation, shame, fright, mental anguish, as well as exemplary damages, if it is proven by clear and convincing evidence that the defendant acted with malice.” The plaintiff is seeking less than $74,900.

To see a full line of counterfeit detection devices please visit our website

US Mint Stops Minting $1 Coins

Nobody Wants the $1 Coins and The US Mint Finally Stops Making Them
The Wall Street Journal
5:56 a.m. CST, December 14, 2011

The U.S. government, its vaults stuffed with 1.4 billion one-dollar coins bearing the likenesses of dead presidents, has had enough of them. It is going to curtail production. "Nobody wants them," Vice President Joe Biden said Tuesday. That is for sure: The Mint says there are enough $1 coins sitting in Federal Reserve vaults to meet demand for a decade, and the inventory was on track to hit two billion by 2016. More than 40 percent of the coins that are minted are returned to the government unwanted, the Treasury said. The rest apparently sit in vending machines -- one of the few places they are widely used -- or in the drawers of coin collectors. What the coins don't do is get around much. In fact, the Mint has never had much luck with dollar coins. The Susan B. Anthony dollar (1979-1981, revived for one year in 1999) never caught on; some people said it was too close in size to the quarter. Neither did the Sacagawea Golden Dollars (2000-2008) or its successor, the Native American $1 Coin, which has the same front but a different back. But that didn't discourage Congress. In 2005, it mandated that the Mint make $1 coins with the likenesses of the presidents, four each year between 2007 to 2016. So far, the Mint is up to James Garfield, the 20th president. Next up: Chester A. Arthur. "And as it will shock you all, the call for Chester A. Arthur coins is not there," Biden said at a Cabinet-level meeting of a campaign to cut government waste. Arthur fans needn't fret. The Mint will keep producing the presidential $1 coins on schedule, but will only make enough to meet collector demand and no longer attempt to circulate them. By law, 20 percent of all dollar coins produced have to be Native American coins, so production of them will be reduced too. The move, the Treasury said, will save taxpayers $50 million a year -- or about 15 minutes worth of the federal deficit. The decision is a milestone of sorts in a long-running battle between those think it is wasteful to keep printing dollar bills that wear out and have to be replaced frequently, and those who hate the $1 coin and see it as the real waste of money because Americans don't like them. Peter Calabrese, a Roman Catholic priest who lives near Niagara Falls, N.Y., close to the Canadian border, is in the latter camp. He noted that Canada phased out its dollar bill when it introduced the $1 "loonie" coin in 1987. "You get used to it," Father Calabrese said. Other countries, such as the United Kingdom, also phased out small-denomination paper bills when replacing them with coins. Amid debates over taxes, health care and wars, the dollar-bill and dollar-coin camps have been waging war in Washington for years. A band of House Republicans is backing the Currency Optimization, Innovation and National Savings (COINS) Act that would eliminate the dollar bill. The two senators from Massachusetts, Republican Scott Brown and Democrat John Kerrey, countered with the Currency Efficiency Act, which aimed at curtailing what they said was "massive overproduction" of "the unpopular one dollar coin." Perhaps not so coincidentally, the company that makes the paper for the U.S. currency, Crane & Co., is based in Dalton, Mass. "There is more convenience in the form factor for the paper dollar and people are quite attached to how well it works," said Doug Crane, vice president of the company. "Coins tend to be a nuisance. They end up in jars or seat cushions." Americans also appear to be sentimental about their currency. Efforts to eliminate the penny because of the costs of producing it, or its limited utility, have gone nowhere, and the Mint says it is committed to producing the one-cent pieces. Tuesday's move by the Obama administration incensed those who have been promoting use of the dollar coin. "This makes zero sense other than getting a cute little headline," said Tom Schatz, president of Citizens Against Government Waste. The anti-waste group is among several members of what is called the Dollar Coin Alliance, which includes the vending machine trade association and the steelworkers union. The other side cheered, though. "These coins are a textbook case of wasteful spending -- something Americans just don't want or need," said Sen. , Republican of Louisiana, who has introduced a bill to kill the presidential $1 coin program.

Watch out for counterfeit money during the holidays

Happy Holidays, watch out for counterfeit bills !! This time of the year can be a retailer's nightmare as far as counterfeit money goes. The US Secret Service says that counterfeiting is rampant this time of the year because the confusion and crowds at the registers make passing fake bills much easier. Everyone needs to be diligent in checking their bills...even the consumers can receive a fake bill in their change if they are not careful. The pens that stores use to check the bills do not work because the paper they use to make the fake bills is good paper made from "washing" a real bill or the counterfeiter has just added a "0" to a five making it a fifty or to a ten making it a hundred. Also counterfeiters can spray fabric softener on a counterfeit bill which fools the pens into thinking they are genuine. Some steps you can take to avoid accepting a fake bill:

• Use an electronic detection device that actually reads the micro-printing and displays the true denomination of the bill such as out C-3310 detector


• Look at the number in the lower right corner of the bill and it should change in the light as you shift the bill


• Look at the face on the bill watermark and check to see if the face is the same as the face printed on the bill


• Make sure the portrait and the serial numbers on the bill are clear and not fuzzy

If you do mistakenly accept a counterfeit bill do NOT try to pass it on, to do so is a crime. Put the bill in an envelope and call your local police. Try to remember as much as you can about the source of the bill.

Announcing NEW Canadian Bill Counters

A Whole New Look and Feel
Canadian currency has come a long way. And it's going even further. The new polymer notes look and feel quite different, but they're a good change for Canadians. They are highly secure, durable, and innovative.
Unfortunately the new Polymer bills with their "plastic" feel and clear windows play havoc with most bill counters. The good news is that we have two new models available that have been totally re-designed to handle the new Canadian Polymer bills while still retaining the ability to count the older Canadian currency as well. Check out our newest model bill counters today click here

ATM Machines with FREE Processing now available

Announcing that count-money.com is now carrying a full line of retail ATM machines. Our machines come with FREE transaction processing. Whether you need an ATM for your own business or wish to place ATM's in business locations for profit, we are the best source for great service and competitive prices. FREE shipping anywhere in the continental USA , Free setup and FREE transaction processing ! Click Here