Gardenia Software Systems Releases New Version of Cash Management Application Suite for Commercial Cash Operations

Milford, OH, April 15, 2008 – Gardenia Software Systems, Inc. today announced the release of Cash Information Management™ (CIM™) 6.0, the company’s newest version of its cash management software application suite. CIM was developed as a tool for commercial cash operations in the banking, retail, gaming, and armored carrier services industries. Enterprises in these industries require broad application functionality and configurability for the purpose of cash processing and reconciliation, cash replenishment, cash ordering, cash inventory control, reporting, and other cash-handling processes.

Since CIM’s initial release in 1989, Gardenia has consistently expanded the system’s feature set, often in response to specific customer requests. “Our product development is very much customer-driven,” says Gardenia’s vice-president of product development, Garry Welch. “Over the years, customers have frequently asked that we customize some aspect of the system to meet a particular business need. We have always worked very hard to accommodate them. Most of those customizations have then been included in subsequent product releases, as optional features.”

CIM 6.0 is no exception. After a customer suggested that additional tools in the effort to prevent cash losses would be highly beneficial in her retail operations, Gardenia developed three new reports that would provide a monthly record of cash-register-receipt (or deposit) overages and shortages based on customer and teller. The reports show overage totals, shortage totals, the “loss ratio” of shortages to overages, and number of variances both by month and by year. These statistics enable cash office and vault managers to see where variances have occurred and whether the number of shortages appears unusually high. The ability to identify variance patterns over time and to pinpoint their origin is invaluable for loss prevention and enterprise management. “You have to be able to identify the source of a problem before you can address it,” notes company president Fred Thomas. “These reports make it much easier to determine where issues may exist. They’re an effective tool to clear away the underbrush.“

For tellers and cashiers who process cash and other media types, CIM 6.0 offers eyestrain-reducing and user-friendlier screen layout and function options, and greater ability to configure the work environment according to personal preference. “Tellers have a tough job,” Fred Thomas observes. “They spend many hours a day looking intently at a computer screen and doing rapid data entry. Eyestrain and headaches are a real issue for many of them. The work can also get a bit repetitive, so anything we can do to make things easier is a big plus.”

IT teams, too, will find changes that help reduce support requirements, among them an improved database application (CIM-DBMS™) that offers enhanced offline recovery capability at the local work station, local server, and host server, minimizing data loss during network downtime.

The job of cash management systems is to facilitate the business operations of commercial cash enterprises. The developers at Gardenia Software Systems are convinced their new release is made to order. “We’ve been in this business a long time,” notes Garry Welch. “We know the challenges cash operations face and we continually adapt to meet their needs. CIM 6.0 is a tool they can count on to do what they want it to do.”