Swedish Banks Say "Don't" - or Dye!

Banks in Sweden have an unusual problem with thefts from automated teller machine vaults because dynamite is readily available in that country, making it easily possible to blow up ATMs. To combat the problem, they are using a tool many American banks use to protect cash at teller lines: Dye.

Sixty ATM vaults were blown up in Sweden in 2000, resulting in not only theft of the cash, but also collateral damage in the branches where they occurred. Banks in that country have teamed with theft deterrent tool companies to develop a system that stains money when someone tampers with cash cassettes in the ATM. Although the dye can't prevent the thefts, it allows weaker vaults to be used so that building structures aren't threatened. Instead, the dye renders the money useless.

Dye-staining systems are also being used more heavily in devices such as armored cars that transport cash in Europe because the Euro makes it easier for criminals to travel across borders with stolen cash and be able to use the money in the new country.

Copyright © 2004 Bankers' Hotline. Originally appeared in Bankers' Hotline, Vol. 14, No. 6, 10/10