BankAmerica Corp. has developed a specialized cash management service for Bloomingdale's of New York.
The service, called Register Balancing, automates the balancing and reporting of cash and check receipts at the department store's cash registers. It is a recent example of how large institutions are customizing cash-management services to retain their corporate clients.
Bank officials said the service helps Bloomingdale's match cash register receipts with the merchandise it has sold, eliminating the need for manual balancing. Pat Schulte, senior vice president of the bank's float and deposit group, said the service "frees up staff that would otherwise be in a back room counting currency."
Bloomingdale's recently entered the California market with four new stores and plans to open a fifth. The service can handle balance and transactional information from more than 80 cash registers.
At the end of each day, Bloomingdale's sends its cash, checks, and gift certificates along with a balance figure generated by the cash register to BankAmerica. The bank counts currency and processes checks and gift certificates. Then it matches those transactions with what Bloomingdale's claims was sold.
Balance information is reported to Bloomingdale's accounts receivables system in New York at the end of the day and credited to its depository account the next morning.
BankAmerica officials said they are marketing the service to its supermarket and home improvement customers, and other large retailers.
Chase Manhattan Corp. provides similar services to Federated Department stores.
