In our organization, we use cash drawers filled with play money to teach our tellers how to perform their jobs. We are currently using cash from Ergometrics Teller Test and are in need of replacing some of the currency. Unfortunately Ergometrics no longer produces the currency. The play money we are finding is too small. We are looking for currency that is near the real size (approx 2 3/4 x 6) and is fairly durable (perhaps 24# paper weight). Does anyone know of a vendor who would have such a product?

Thank you in advance,
Andy

Have you thought about making your own? You could copy real dollars on to colored paper.

Consider this though when making your copies...

http://www.moneyfactory.gov/document.cfm/18/117

Your copies can only be one sided and must be 75% or 150% the size of the original bill.

The boss prefers we purchase the bills from outside. We need the bills to be the same size as what we have and would prefer they not look like "real" money.

Since you're replacing your "money" anyway, this would be a good time to make sure the kind you get (even if it doesn't look like real currency) helps the tellers get used to looking at the part of the bill you really want them to look at to determine the amount, rather than the obvious place where most non-bankers look. (How's that for dancing around a security issue in a public forum?)

In the past, our bank has used practice bills whose amount could ONLY be determined by looking at the "wrong" spot. Not good practice at all!

FB, I think that is a fantastic idea. Create a practice bill that has the information you do want reviewed. I think this has promise.

We too use play money in our training. Try going to Amazon and search for "Learning Resources Money" They have currency and coin that is the correct size. I'm sure it will link you to other companies that offer the same product. Also, if you have a school supply store in your area you should check there too.

I'd recommend that you have something that looks close to the same thing. This money is pretty durable and isn't as easy to count as the real thing. Trust me - if they can count this play stuff, they won't have any trouble with the real thing!

If you're concerned about training employees to look for fakes, you can order free training materials from The Money Factory.

I don't recall who posted it, but some time ago we had a similar conversation. The banker was looking for play money, and it was something like 100 plastic pennies cost $150.

These are all great ideas! And after the tellers practice, nothing beats the real thing. It makes a world of difference to test the new tellers ability to count real currency, strap it and balance their cash drawers. Teller training is best when it consists of a blended program using instructor-led, computer-based and role-play techniques followed by a mentor in the branch to prepare your staff for the challenging job of bank teller.

The Mentor at the branch is very important, and to make the most of the Mentoring environment the new Teller should have a chance to observe the Mentor performing Teller tasks, then perform the tasks jointly with the Mentor, and then be observed performing the tasks independently.

Julie
Julie Duepner
The Edcomm Group
Julie.duepner@edcomm.com
http://www.edcomm.com
http://www.bankersacademy.com
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