A night depository box is a bank-secured drop box where business customers and their employees can drop off cash, coins and cheques for processing after hours. These night deposits are processed by the bank or the secured armored truck service, such as Garda or Brinks.
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Best Practices for Night Depository
- Banks will charge business customers a fee for night depository services (around $30/year)
- Night deposits can be dropped off by business owners and their employees
- A night deposit box is a secured box with access from outside, to drop off bags
- A secure night deposit bag is required when dropping off cash, coins and cheques
- A unique night deposit bag number is always on the bag
- Always double-count your cash and coins before putting them in the night deposit bag
- Only authorized and trusted employees are to drop off night deposits
Why Are Night Deposits Used?
You may be wondering why night depository is still used in our increasingly cashless society. Even in the current year, most small businesses still deal with a lot of cash and coins. A handful of manufacturing businesses accept cheques from customers. As these need to be stored securely, most business owners prefer to securely lock them in night deposit bags and store them at the bank.
The following business day, the bank will open all the bags and credit the customers. A trained employee of the bank will open all night deposit bags and carefully count
It’s a relatively easy process, but can seem a little backwards due to the nature of the transaction.
Only customers with a business account with night deposit services will get access to the secure box. You will be provided with a key to open the night deposit chute.
Can Mistakes Be Made with Night Deposits?
Mistakes can be made with night deposits, such as crediting the wrong account, or a missing night deposit. When the customer leaves the bag in the chute; they need to make sure they keep a record of how much was left, the bag number and the drop-off transit. If you don’t receive credit for your night deposit, you need to reach out to the bank for a night deposit investigation. A night deposit investigation involves contacting all parties involved and tracing the bags and their contents.
In Canada, some banks will use the service of an armored car service such as Garda. Garda drops off the night deposit bags with a centralized currency unit. At this secure location, all bags are opened in front of a camera and the contents are counted. If a business comes back with a question about a missing night deposit, the managers can review the footage to ensure all bags were counted.
How a Real Business Uses Night Deposits
Across Canada and the U.S, there are many financial institutions that offer night deposit services. A restaurant business is known to accept cash and coin payments from its customers. Let’s assume Restaurant ABC closes up shop on a Friday night and has $7,578.55 in cash and coins. This is a lot of money for the business to hold onto until Monday morning when the bank opens. The business owner can use a secure night deposit bag or a tamper-proof bank deposit bag to put their money in and deposit it in the bank chute.
Now that the deposit has been placed in the bank night deposit chute, the business owner does not have to worry about the security of those funds. The funds are now securely with their bank, and will be counted on Monday morning and deposited into their account.
Are Night Deposits Safe to Use?
Night deposits are safe to use because they are stored in a secured box in the bank. The next day, the teller or manager will need a secure key to get access to the night deposit chute. There are thousands of small businesses and commercial customers that use night depository services. Every customer who has access to the night deposit chute will need a key to open the door for the chute.
Best Night Deposit Bags in Canada
The best night deposit bags in Canada are those sold by authorized sellers such as MMF Industries and Finastra (Davis-Henderson). If you purchase night deposit bags from your bank, you may be asked to go through a verified dealer they use. In Canada, most banks will largely use Finastra for their night deposit bags, deposit books and cheques. If you are looking to save money on printing cheques, we whole-heartedly trust ASAP Cheques – they do a fantastic job with their printing, and also ship fairly quickly!