The Rise of Cash Logistics Firms

From a Businessworld article:

The big four in the business — CMS, Brinks, SIS-Prosegur and Writers — share 80 per cent of the market between them and, on an average, cart Rs 20,000 crore in cash daily. Which means, in a year, it is a whopping Rs 73 lakh crore. Add all cash logistics firms (CLF) and it is Rs 91.25 lakh crore. A caveat: it does not mean that goods and services of equivalent value were sold or paid for; just that so much of cash moves about in vans.
- See more at: http://www.businessworld.in/news/business/corporate/cash-movers/1065291/page-1.html#sthash.vhRuidoI.dpuf

The big four in the business — CMS, Brinks, SIS-Prosegur and Writers — share 80 per cent of the market between them and, on an average, cart Rs 20,000 crore in cash daily. Which means, in a year, it is a whopping Rs 73 lakh crore. Add all cash logistics firms (CLF) and it is Rs 91.25 lakh crore. A caveat: it does not mean that goods and services of equivalent value were sold or paid for; just that so much of cash moves about in vans.
- See more at: http://www.businessworld.in/news/business/corporate/cash-movers/1065291/page-1.html#sthash.vhRuidoI.dpuf

Cash logistics gained speed in mid-1990s when foreign banks set up ATMs and pioneered doorstep cash service. It was to tip-toe over RBI’s strict licensing norms. The boom in retail (banking and sundry retailing) since means you have much more cash to sort, reple­ni­­­sh and carry around. It is estimated to be a Rs 1,500-crore industry: 8,500 cash vans ply on roads; employs 45,000 and expected to grow at 50 per cent annually.

The big four in the business — CMS, Brinks, SIS-Prosegur and Writers — share 80 per cent of the market between them and, on an average, cart Rs 20,000 crore in cash daily. Which means, in a year, it is a whopping Rs 73 lakh crore. Add all cash logistics firms (CLF) and it is Rs 91.25 lakh crore. A caveat: it does not mean that goods and services of equivalent value were sold or paid for; just that so much of cash moves about in vans.

...CLFs and security firms may be conjoined twins, but have distinct personalities. Explains Neil Prasad, regional managing director of G4S (South Asia): “It may seem a CLF is a logical extension for a security company. But a CLF requires extensive investment to mitigate threats. It requires a different set of technical know-how. Many ­local security firms neither have that financial bandwidth nor the technical know-how to operate as a CLF.”

Adds Aiyer: “It’s not to mean that cash logistics players will foray into the security business. Just that for security firms, cash logistics is an evolution. In the sense, you move up from protecting people and establishments to cash and valuables.” Adds Sinha: “Cash logistics is a sub-set of the private security industry. It accounts for 7.5 per cent of the industry, which is worth Rs 20,000 crore.” He seconds Aiyer on the link between the two: “Brinks, CMS and Writers have always remained CLFs and never ventured into the security business.” 

CLFs and security firms may be conjoined twins, but have distinct personalities. Explains Neil Prasad, regional managing director of G4S (South Asia): “It may seem a CLF is a logical extension for a security company. But a CLF requires extensive investment to mitigate threats. It requires a different set of technical know-how. Many ­local security firms neither have that financial bandwidth nor the technical know-how to operate as a CLF.”

Adds Aiyer: “It’s not to mean that cash logistics players will foray into the security business. Just that for security firms, cash logistics is an evolution. In the sense, you move up from protecting people and establishments to cash and valuables.” Adds Sinha: “Cash logistics is a sub-set of the private security industry. It accounts for 7.5 per cent of the industry, which is worth Rs 20,000 crore.” He seconds Aiyer on the link between the two: “Brinks, CMS and Writers have always remained CLFs and never ventured into the security business.”  But what you cannot get away is: no guns, no roses. - See more at: http://www.businessworld.in/news/corporate/cash-movers/1065291/page-2.html#sthash.z91H1Mfn.dpuf

The big four in the business — CMS, Brinks, SIS-Prosegur and Writers — share 80 per cent of the market between them and, on an average, cart Rs 20,000 crore in cash daily. Which means, in a year, it is a whopping Rs 73 lakh crore. Add all cash logistics firms (CLF) and it is Rs 91.25 lakh crore. A caveat: it does not mean that goods and services of equivalent value were sold or paid for; just that so much of cash moves about in vans.
- See more at: http://www.businessworld.in/news/business/corporate/cash-movers/1065291/page-1.html#sthash.vhRuidoI.dpuf

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