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CMH Group: ALVARA and sister companies combine expertise and benefit from synergies

After a successful year 2019, ALVARA is embarking on new projects together with its sister companies Safelogy and Serisoft. The focus continues to be on bundling the respective core competencies. The first milestones, such as the networking of ALVARA ICC and Safelogy Monitoring, have already been achieved. For example, customers can now benefit from monitoring their smart safes and deposit safes/recyclers in addition to the classic ALVARA functions.

Leipzig, January 21, 2020 – The CMH Group has reached important milestones in 2019 to bundle the core competencies of ALVARA Cash Management Group AG and its sister companies Safelogy and Serisoft. With joint strength, the existing market lead is now to be expanded and new target groups are to be developed.

“We are pleased about a healthy growth of the group”, says Bernd Hohlfeld, member of the board of ALVARA and managing director of CMH Group. “The networking of our solutions, finding a common language and a strong image create tangible synergies that strengthen our market position. This year we want to further expand the gained presence”.

In the meantime, ALVARA ICC and Safelogy Monitoring are already connected. Users can therefore use the ALVARA functions and additionally monitor their smart safes and deposit safes/recyclers. ALVARA is also currently testing the Safelogy Smart Safe app for the German market. Safelogy, on the other hand, is adding an ALVARA module for the optimization of cash orders and value-added services to its portfolio. Joint development projects with SeriSoft with a view to a SaaS solution (Software as a Service) and cloud services have also already been started.

According to the CMH experts, the core topics for retailers and financial institutions this year again include cost reduction, logistics optimization and the implementation of sustainability.

“Intelligent, forward-looking and flexibly deployable solutions from SMEs that enable the intermeshing of hardware and software are more in demand than ever,” Hohlfeld notes. “This is why we in the CMH Group will continue to develop innovative models that will help our customers move forward.”

The different levels of experience within the group can help here. For example, the extensive knowledge of the processes in retail companies and financial institutions enables the development of tailor-made and needs-based solutions. “Our expertise and our claim to develop highly secure applications are an essential foundation stone for the development of new markets,” summarises the ALVARA board member.

SeriSoft will, for example, expand its solutions and the existing target groups such as the pharmaceutical industry, the cosmetics market, banknote printers or manufacturers of chip cards and ID documents, and in future will also offer its services to tobacco companies and the brewery and beverage industry.

In addition to cooperation on content, the group is also planning further joint events. For example, ALVARA and Safelogy will be present at the ESTA in Dublin from 17-19 May 2020.

ALVARA and the cash-in-transit sector focus on sustainability

The topic of “sustainability” has long since arrived in the cash-in-transit sector (CIT). But it is not only the idea of effective environmental protection that plays a role. Process optimization is also necessary, for example to improve the security situation and save costs.

Leipzig, October 23, 2019 – ALVARA Cash Management Group AG supports sustainable CIT services at various levels. The Leipzig-based cash specialist is once again fulfilling its social responsibility and continues to focus on solutions that do justice to the environment, employees, customers and suppliers.

“We take our role as one of the leading cash specialists very seriously and see in it the task of paying attention to sustainability – wherever it makes sense and is possible,” explains Bernd Hohlfeld, CEO of ALVARA. “Our solutions help, for example, to avoid special trips in the event of faults in self-service equipment. Thanks to flexible one-time codes, a technician in the vicinity can intervene immediately instead of additionally requesting a CIT company with a suitable key.”

The ALVARA Logistic App not only helps to protect the environment with its “one-time code generator”. The “Digital Driver Identity” function also supports this idea, for example by digitizing driver lists or receipts that were previously in paper form. The driver’s QR code scanned by the store employee is automatically compared with the data stored in ALVARA ICC. Paper-based legitimation lists are no longer required. At the same time, the transfer of money becomes even more secure.

ALVARA also relies on partners with strong solutions in the hardware sector who treat the environment and society responsibly. “The DEBATIN safebags made of recycled film, for example, are not only tamper-proof but also environmentally friendly,” explains Hohlfeld.

Thomas Rose, Managing Director of Anton Debatin GmbH, adds: “We are of the opinion that responsible handling of raw materials, materials and waste is always important. For this reason, recycling, reusability and the protection of resources have been top priorities at DEBATIN for many years. For example, our group-owned film recycling cycle “DERIBA CYCLE” ensures that our packaging does not end up in the environment, waste is reduced and resources are conserved. At the same time, we ensure the supply and quality of our recycled films from recyclable waste. (Product) packaging is therefore always much more than just a container and reveals a lot about the intentions and ideals of the manufacturer and the buyer”.*

Many cash-in-transit companies also improve the efficiency of transport processes both from a cost and environmental perspective, for example by optimising routes or investing in vehicles that meet strict emission standards and by training drivers in environmentally friendly driving techniques.

“Loomis orders the DEBATIN Safebags with the Blue Angel in terms of sustainability,” confirms Lucjan Hełminiak, Head of Operations & Business Development at Loomis Deutschland GmbH & Co. KG. “We are also pushing ahead with the development of a reusable safebag. In addition, our drivers also work with the ALVARA Logistics App.

ALVARA is also working with a “green” data center: At the end of 2018, the cash specialist decided to cooperate with the data centre location in Taucha near Leipzig.

“In addition to high availability and reliability, one of the main requirements of the new data center was to have a completely independent provider for electricity and Internet connections on board,” says Hohlfeld. “Certifications according to standards such as ISO 27001 and ISO 9001 also underline our own quality standards towards our customers and partners. The combination of state-of-the-art technology and green IT, i.e. operation with green electricity and the latest technology for efficient air conditioning, rounds off the overall concept. We not only have the know-how, but also the capacities and state-of-the-art infrastructures for the optimum protection of sensitive customer data”.

* Source: Cf: (https://www.debatin.de/second-life-debatin-setzt-auf-recyclingfolien-und-eigenen-recyclingkreislauf/)

ALVARA grows under the umbrella of the CMH Group: Takeover of ZEISER Software

Supported by its investor Silver Investment Partners (SIP), ALVARA Cash Management Group AG continues to grow together with the CMH. The acquisition of the software division of ZEISER GmbH (ZEISER Software) continues the sustainable growth course of the CMH, to which ALVARA has also belonged since 2018.

Leipzig, May 27, 2019 – As part of the CMH GmbH, the Leipzig-based cash specialist ALVARA Cash Management Group AG continues to grow. With the support of its majority shareholder Silver Investment Partners (SIP), the CMH, to which ALVARA has belonged since 2018, acquires the software division of ZEISER GmbH (ZEISER Software), a leading provider of software solutions for serialization and track & trace applications.

The market for track & trace solutions offers great growth potential. With ZEISER Software’s innovative technology and product platform, the Group can benefit even more from this potential and drive its development towards becoming the pan-European market leader.

“ZEISER Software is ideally suited to ALVARA and the CMH due to its complementary product range. Together we can enter new markets, expand our customer base and accelerate the market entry of innovative software solutions,” says Bernd Hohlfeld, Board of ALVARA and CEO of CMH. “The merger is the next logical step in the further development of our group.“

Following the carve-out from ZEISER GmbH, the software division of ZEISER Software will operate as an independent company named SeriSoft GmbH. Under the umbrella of CMH, SeriSoft will strengthen the software specialists for cash management ALVARA Cash Management Group, SAFELOGY SAS and MLSA SAS. Together with the experienced management team, Dr. Stefan Öing, currently site manager of ZEISER Software, is responsible for the operative business as CEO of SeriSoft.

“Being part of CMH opens up completely new perspectives for us – both financially and in terms of sales,” says Dr. Stefan Öing, CEO of the new company SeriSoft. “With the expertise and resources of the Group, we can professionalize the distribution of our products and sustainably expand our market position.”

ZEISER Software has more than 20 years of experience in the development of secure product serialization and track & trace software solutions. The division is part of ZEISER GmbH (formerly Atlantic Zeiser), which, since 2002, has been part of Orell Füssli Group, the official printing company of Swiss banknotes. The applications of ZEISER Software are used in the personalization of ID documents and chip cards, tracking and tracing of sheets in banknote printing, grey market control of products in the cosmetics market and in the pharmaceutical sector for the database-driven tracking of medicines throughout the entire supply chain. With its customizable software solutions, ZEISER Software is thus very well positioned in promising industries such as the pharmaceutical market and the market for brand protection solutions. The flexible approach makes it possible to efficiently adapt the software solution to different industry requirements and offers broad development opportunities.
The customers of ALVARA Cash Management Group AG will noticeably benefit from the diverse synergy effects.

ALVARA gets new sister companies Safelogy and MLSA

With the support of its investor Silver Investment Partners (SIP), ALVARA Cash Management Group AG is growing beyond Germany’s borders as planned. CMH Group, the wholly-owned parent company of ALVARA AG, acquires the French companies Safelogy SAS (Safelogy) and MLSA SAS (MLSA). ALVARA thus achieves the next milestone towards becoming the European market leader for software solutions in cash management.

Leipzig, May 16, 2019 – The CMH Group takes over the French companies Safelogy SAS (Safelogy) and MLSA SAS (MLSA) retroactively to December 31, 2018. The Leipzig-based cash specialist has thus reached another milestone on its way to becoming the European market leader for software solutions in cash management. At the same time, the long-term oriented ALVARA investor Silver Investment Partners (SIP) underlines the already announced sustainable growth strategy.

Under the umbrella of CMH Group, the two companies Safelogy and MLSA strengthen the German cash logistics specialist ALVARA Cash Management Group AG (ALVARA), a portfolio company of SIP since October 2018.

“With ALVARA and SIP, we have gained strong partners with whom we can strengthen our market position in Europe. I look forward to jointly continuing the growth path of our companies,” said Emmanuel Gaucher, CEO of MLSA and Safelogy.

Emmanuel Gaucher continues to be responsible for the operative business as CEO of MLSA and Safelogy. In addition, he will lead CMH Group together with Bernd Hohlfeld, CEO and founder of ALVARA. In this function, he will be responsible for the strategic positioning of the Group. Cyril Portalez remains CTO of Safelogy and in this position continues to develop the company’s innovative applications.

“With the support of our new French colleagues, we can further expand our product and service portfolio for our German and international customers,” says Bernd Hohlfeld, member of the ALVARA Management Board and Managing Director of CMH Group. “The combination of our IT expertise and product competence allows us to bring innovative software solutions to market even faster. In particular, I see considerable synergy potential in the interaction between the ALVARA ICC solution and the French provider’s safe monitoring system.“

MLSA was founded in 1986 in Bar le Duc (France) and specializes in back-office applications to optimize cash management processes. The company operates internationally with a focus on Europe and Africa and offers retailers, cash-in-transit companies, financial institutions and public transport companies tailor-made software solutions to capture, control and monitor their cash flows.

In 2015, Emmanuel Gaucher, CEO and owner of MLSA, and Cyril Portalez jointly founded the start-up Safelogy in Marseille (France) to better meet retailers’ needs for software solutions to automate the cash cycle. The company has developed the first universal cash automation platform allowing merchants to optimize cash management through a flexible multi-vendor, customizable and integrated solution. The platform is used daily by more than 5,000 retailers. The cloud-based software enables customers to efficiently capture and track cash balances and cash flows. This allows retailers to reduce cash processing costs by up to 50 percent.

As a group, ALVARA, MLSA and Safelogy are in a unique position to serve their customers across Europe. Together, the companies are represented in 15 European countries. By harmonizing standards, they create a uniform system landscape that makes it easier for customers to synchronize their cash management processes at the European level and thus realize efficiency gains.

Lower costs thanks to coin marketplace

Sparkasse Barnim reduces its coin management costs with the help of an external service provider.

Coins are an expensive business for the banking industry. As the number one point of contact for retailers, regional institutions in particular often have to bear high costs. Checking, sorting, counting, rolling and storing coins costs money, and there are also logging processes. Efforts and benefits are often out of proportion with regard to the commitment of personnel and resources.
This was also the problem faced by the Sparkasse Barnim in the northeast of Berlin. The medium-sized institution with total assets of around 1.8 billion euros handles and processes up to 90 tons of coins annually – and the trend is rising. It was therefore necessary to significantly optimize the existing process, because after all, every coin is handled at least twice.

Until now, coin management at Sparkasse Barnim had followed a classic pattern: all coins were collected from the branches, then centrally checked, sorted, counted and rolled. The rolled coins had to be returned to the branches, the surplus to the Bundesbank. Although the Sparkasse had a fee arrangement for this service, the amounts were often not collected at the counter tills because this would often have meant additional administrative work in the complex process chain. At the same time, there were generally too many loopholes in the system that allowed customers to circumvent the coin fees.
Against this background, the quantities of coins produced were also logged rather sporadically and incompletely. Another enormous expense: rolls were lying in safes in the branches, which employees then had to open frequently in order to fulfill customers’ requests. So, all in all, there were a number of reasons to reorganize coin management.

Platform solution changes processes and supply chains

The Sparkasse Barnim decided to take a new approach, which, from the bank’s point of view, quickly led to success. With the help of the coin management solution
“ChangeExchange” from the Leipzig-based service provider ALVARA, customers place their coin orders via a platform. A money processing employee accepts open orders by 10:30 a.m. and prepares the desired coin packages ready for transport. The customer can select these in the coin portal, such as a defined kit, individual rolls or entire roll packages – subject to the corresponding receipt of money, which includes countervalue and fees.
The shipping method can also be freely defined: If the customer wishes to have the money sent by mail, this will be done via DHL up to a transport sum of less than 500 euros and a weight of up to 32 kilograms. If the customer wants to pick up his coins at the branch, a CIT may deliver them to the Sparkasse. This applies above all to deliveries whose transport sum is greater than 500 euros and heavier than 32 kilograms. The processing of coin rolls and coin packages is handled by the bank’s own cash processing department together with the cash-in-transit company. The coins, handed in by the customer in coin deposit devices or safebags, were collected from the branches of the Sparkasse and prepared by the CIT – according to the coin orders via the portal and the cash orders from the branches.

The rollout of the new solution was not without concerns and challenges.The introduction of the new solution was not without concerns and challenges. After all, it’s never easy to redesign existing processes in an entirely new way. Initially, for example, there were problems with the DHL interface, but these were resolved. In the meantime, the demand for using the CoinMarketplace continues to grow and is noticeably paying off. While a roll of cash costs a few cents more at the counter, it’s only 15 cents in the coin portal. This also saves the customer cash.

The remaining expenses for coin management at Sparkasse Barnim were significantly reduced bevause of the combination of recycling and direct sales, together with a revision of the in-house fee collection system.
The bottom line is that the new solution has significantly eliminated inefficiencies in cash handling. This allowed the Sparkasse Barnim to reduce the number of entities involved in coin processing and accounting. In addition, it was possible to reduce the quantities of coins that have to be returned to the Bundesbank as surpluses.

The recycling system and direct sales were the main contributors to this, as they reduced storage processes and cash inventory management. The expanded sales and logistics channels, for example through new service areas for the contracted CITs, are also advantageous. Last but not least, this enables Sparkasse Barnim to respond more flexibly to market demand and minimize the costs associated with coin management.

Author Wolfgang Kohl works as a cash manager at Sparkasse Barnim.
Author Bernd Hohlfeld is a member of the Management Board of Alvara Cash Management Group, Leipzig.

– Published online on February 27, 2019 in the Sparkassenzeitung –

Time and cost savings: ALVARA connects ARCA back-office recycling system with ALVARA Interactive Cash Control (ICC)

Intelligently designed back-office solutions using automation help by digitizing and automating analog process steps.

Numerous cash handling processes – from the supply and depositing of cash, to the ordering of change and cash accounting – can run much more efficiently in retail. Intelligently designed back-office solutions using automation help by digitizing and automating analog process steps.

Leipzig, February 13, 2019 – In January 2019, ALVARA connected another technology solution to ALVARA Interactive Cash Control (ICC) with the ARCA back office equipment, the CM18b cash recycler and CC3R coin recycler. Thanks to the new interface, users of the ARCA back-office system can now perform monitoring via ICC. This means that users are always informed about what, when and by whom cash and coin has been deposited or repaid. If required, they can also view the cassette available capacity. ICC is also able to automatically trigger change orders and disposal orders.

“With the creation of the new interface, ALVARA is once again underlining its manufacturer neutrality and independence,” says Bernd Hohlfeld, member of the ALVARA Management Board. “Trading companies now have an even larger selection of suitable back-office machines, such as the ARCA solution, with which monitoring by means of ICC is possible”.

If ARCA’s machines are equipped with an Insys one-time code lock, code generation can be carried out even more securely and efficiently using the ALVARA Logistic App’s one-time code generator. “If required, the ALVARA App can also support the process of supplying and disposing of the market from pickup at the store to arrival at the cash center and digitally document all transfers of liability,” adds Hohlfeld.

The complete solution will be presented from 19 to 21 February 2019 at EuroCIS in Düsseldorf (Hall 10 / Stand D58).

ARCA is an international manufacturer of technologies for cash automation. The connection to the devices is a further milestone for ALVARA to further expand its presence on the European market.

Sales partner of the ARCA back office recycling system in Germany is NGZ Geldzählmaschinengesellschaft mbH & Co KG.