At some of our smaller branches our vault teller is able to go into the vault by herself. The only way to mitigate this risk is to add staff. How are other banks with smaller branches handling this?

Thanks!

Can you clarify what you mean by "go into the vault by herself"? Are you referring to the room in general, or actually referring to the cash lockers?

Risk is a two-edged sword. If $ goes missing, the vault teller will be the primary suspect. A second person not only mitigates the risk of loss of $ to the Bank, but also protects the employee. I'm presuming other people can access the vault.

A motion-activated camera might mitigate the risks.


Al

She is able to go get cash by herself - if cash goes missing then the vault teller would be the suspect just as if it were her teller cash drawer.

I would look at increasing the vault teller cash limits. I would always require dual control to enter the main vault cash lockers. I would provide the vault teller a seperate locking drawer in the vault area (off the teller line) where she can secure her excess cash, but would be able to access it in single control. When sold back to the vault, it would be verified in dual and placed back in dual.

There's potential for multiple risks, not only in terms of employee theft from the vault, but also robbery risk for cash both in the vault and on the floor.

We try to minimize the floor limits, and like Arctic Audito suggests, our vault teller has single custody of a working supply of cash in the vault. The threshold is determined by our bonding limits. Excess cash above that limit must be kept in the vault under dual control.

Another possible solution would be utilizing a CRM (cash recycling machine). This would keep monies in dual control, while allowing not only the purchase of money but the selling of money as needed throughout the day by your tellers.