Not like in the movies: how much do cash collectors' bags weigh and what do they find in ATMs?

Topic News : How are ATM cash collections performed and how much do cash bags weigh? Vasily Agarelik, senior cash collector in the Collection and Transportation Department of MINSK Regional Administration No. 1, shared this and more in the "Honest Story" project. "
As an operator, I am responsible for ATM cash collection. I work with a team leader, who is primarily responsible for security and, of course, is present during the ATM collection. We exit the special vehicle together. ATM cassettes are carried in bags. They come in different sizes. Five cassettes can be carried by one person, of course. Nine cassettes—each person has their own bag.

My job is to audit the ATMs, for which I am given a card. Everything depends on the device's operating system. For example, we close and open the drive, change the cassettes, and conduct the ATM collection. Afterwards, it is necessary to obtain all the relevant receipts: audit, unloading, and loading of the ATM. We bring the documentation and the ATM itself to the cashier after work is complete and hand it over to the cashier for counting.
What are the rules for handling valuables? - Handling valuables carries certain risks. Let's say our citizens are conscientious and law-abiding. But we still shouldn't relax, because situations vary. Therefore, when I approach the point, I inspect the area and pay attention, for example, to people in a state ofALCOHOL intoxication . They may be good people in real life, but when drunk, they can commit some kind of illegal act.

There are two of us near the ATM. When I'm conducting transactions, my partner monitors the situation and will not allow anything to happen to us.
What difficulties can you encounter? - Sometimes there is a line at the ATM. We have to act quickly; we don't have half an hour to work with one ATM. I go up to it and say: "Citizens, the ATM will be closed for 10 minutes." People react to this in different ways. "Look, I'm the last one. Can I skip ahead? I have to go to the store urgently," and so on. Of course, there are more understanding people in the crowd - they step back and simply ask how long the collection will take. I answer 10-15 minutes. "How long?" - "10-15 minutes." And from experience, I know that something in the machine is about to break. People stand and wait, which can take 20-40 minutes. They might give us negative looks and unflattering comments.

If an ATM isn't working, we call the technical support team of the bank we're trying to troubleshoot. We clarify the reason. If they can remotely, as they say in our circles, "restore" the ATM—that is, bring it back to working order so an audit can be conducted—they do so. There are situations when we can do something ourselves. The most extreme case is probably a reboot, which takes about 10-15 minutes. Generally, after that, it's back to working order. What types of ATMs are there and what are they made of? Five-cassette ATMs only work for withdrawals. There are five cassettes: one for deposits and four for banknotes of 5, 10, 20, and 50 Belarusian rubles. Nine-slot ATMs are so-called recyclers, which can operate not only as dispensers but also as receivers. This means that if you want to top up your account or card, you insert cash , and the machine accepts and distributes it. Depending on the operating system, this can either be done in a discharge cassette, or the new GRG ATMs (a Chinese company, now widely used in Belarus) can immediately distribute the money among cassettes of the desired denomination.

The ATM consists of two parts, figuratively speaking: the operator's section and the safe section. The first section is what you've seen: a keyboard and a monitor where you can read all the information. It opens, revealing the card-receiving devices (a card reader, a printer that prints receipts), and the computer that controls the ATM. The lower section is the safe section, housing the dispenser. These are the slots where the cassettes we bring are inserted. It's like the heart of the ATM, which extracts cash from the cassettes, stores it in a special device, and dispenses it to the customer.
Is it easy to carry a lot of cash in bags? - A bag with cassettes weighs at least 30 kg. It can be more if the ATM has nine cassettes. Obviously, making one bag would be heavy, so two are usually used.

They show a robbery: people grab a bag full of cash and run. It's impossible to do that; it weighs too much. Some throwing... that doesn't happen in reality. The path of cards forgotten in an ATM... It happens that in a hurry, they take cash, a large sum, forget the card and run. There's a place in the ATM where they're dropped. When I open the operator compartment, I see how many there are, and I simply take them. There's a special report that needs to be filled out. For example, 10 cards from such-and-such a bank. We draw up a report, put stamps and signatures, and hand it all over to a specialist in our department. And then, as I understand it, he sends the cards directly to the banks.

Sometimes we find not only bank cards, but also student ID cards and passes. People mistakenly insert them into the ATM. It also happens that a card is mistakenly inserted not into the card reader, but into the receipt printer, blocking its operation. Then, of course, you'll need to call a specialist if you can't repair the device yourself.

| Adapted from a BELTA video. Video screenshot. Read also: