SystemBranch, Cash & Contact Center

ATM & Branch Cash Forecasting

ATM cash forecasting that plans tomorrow's armored-carrier run route by route, inside every limit, for your analyst and manager to approve

Smaller, better-timed cash orders inside every vault limit, and no machine left empty.

See one case, screen by screen ↓
demo$1.84Mproposed for one Friday route, $770,000 under its $2.61 million standing order and inside every limit
demo24stopssized by denomination on that route, each change from the standing order explained and cited
target22%less cash sitting idle in machines and vaults
target3cash-outsa month before a visit, against 19 on standing orders
In short

What is ATM & Branch Cash Forecasting?

ATM cash forecasting predicts how much cash each ATM, teller cash recycler and branch vault will pay out before its next armored-carrier visit, so each order is big enough and no bigger. ATM & Branch Cash Forecasting adds agents that forecast every machine by hour and denomination, size each load, check every vault, ATM and truck limit, and explain each change from the standing order, for an analyst to prepare and a manager to approve.

AI use cases in banking: a buyer's guide to agentic AI for bank and credit union operations →

Updated

The problem

Why ATM cash forecasting still runs on standing orders

ATM cash forecasting decides, every business day, how much currency each ATM, teller cash recycler and branch vault gets on tomorrow's armored-carrier run. In most banks it comes from standing orders set months ago and adjusted in spreadsheets, so machines are loaded for the worst case. Much of the cash comes back unused, and the bank pays carry, insurance and transport on it, while paydays, Social Security and SSI dates, holidays and local events still empty the busiest machines.

Every order must also fit limits that are checked by hand: the vault's insurance limit through the week, each ATM's insured limit, the carrier's liability per truck, the carrier's order cutoff and the Federal Reserve's ordering and cross-shipping rules. A late order file moves the run to Monday, a machine out of service gets loaded anyway, a branch's request is lost in email, and nobody can show an examiner who approved an order or why.

typical14%of US consumer payments are still made in cash
demo41%of loaded cash came back unused in July on standing orders, in the sample region
demo$3.78Min a hub vault insured to $3.5 million, if Monday were sized for standing orders
Where an analyst's hours on one route goestimated
By hand4.8 hours
With the solution0.6 hours
  • Pulling balances, faults and withdrawals for every stop0.5 → 0.1 h
  • Adjusting standing orders for paydays, benefit dates, holidays and events1.5 → 0.3 h
  • Sizing each load by denomination, in straps and cassettes1 → 0.1 h
  • Checking vault, ATM and truck limits and the carrier cutoff1 → 0.1 h
  • Approval, the carrier order file and the ledger entry0.8 → 0.3 h

Estimated split for preparing one armored-carrier route of about 24 stops, by hand and with the agents; our estimate, kept modest.

How it works

How a route's order moves

Seven agents forecast, challenge, size and check every order; the analyst prepares each route and the manager approves it.

What comes in
Data in6 systems · ATM monitoring, cash management, carrier, calendar
Agents at work
Forecast agentby hour and denomination
Then
Challenger agentyesterday against actual
Cash-out watcherevery 15 minutes
Then
Load plannerstraps and cassettes
Limits agentvault, truck, cutoff
Then
Order file agentafter two approvals
A person decides
Analyst and managerprepare, then approve
What comes out
Carrier order file
Federal Reserve order
Audit pack
One case, step by step

ATM cash forecasting for one route, from the forecast to the carrier's order file

Thursday, October 29, at Corvane National Bank. Marisol Brandt prepares Friday's run for Route 14 · Dayton East: Halvard Armored, truck 2, leaving the Dayton hub vault at 6:30 a.m. with 24 stops, 22 ATMs and 2 branch vaults, next visit Tuesday. The weekend has SSI paid Friday, Halloween Saturday and Social Security Tuesday. Here is what happens next, screen by screen, in the working solution.

  1. 01Thursday morning

    Friday's routes, riskiest first, before the 3:00 p.m. cutoff

    Marisol Brandt · Cash Operations Analyst

    Marisol's region has 6 routes and 131 stops for Friday. Route 31 needs a retry after the carrier portal timed out at 10:21 a.m.; Route 14 is ready for her with 4 exceptions; two routes are already with her manager and one is approved, its file sent. The agents' briefing since 6:00 a.m.: Friday's 6 routes carry $9.62 million against $12.38 million of standing orders, ATM 0417 would run out Sunday at 3:00 p.m., and the Challenger questioned 7 forecasts.

    One button: “Prepare Route 14 · Dayton East”.

  2. 02Route 14

    The whole run in one sentence, every figure cited

    Forecast agent, Challenger agent, Limits agent

    The agents propose $1,840,000 for Route 14, $770,000 less than the standing order of $2,610,000. The Forecast agent puts demand to Tuesday at $1.62 million, 18% above last week. The Challenger questioned 2 machines. The Limits agent notes that on the standing order the route would need a second truck, $1,150, and the Kettering Avenue vault would sit at 99% of its limit.

    “It fits one truck under the carrier's $2.5 million limit, and the Dayton hub vault stays at or under $3.18 million this week, inside its $3.5 million insurance limit.”

  3. 03One line per stop

    Each change from the standing order, with its reason

    Load planner

    Every ATM and branch vault sits on one line in stop order: cash now, days of cash against Tuesday's visit, the proposed load by denomination, the standing order and the change. ATM 0402 at the Kettering Ave drive-up gets $82,000, not $120,000: it returned $41,800 unused on average over its last 6 visits. The Kettering Avenue branch vault gets $96,000 in six denominations, not $180,000, because its tellers need $88,000 in $1s to $50s and the vault already holds $412,000, mostly $100s.

  4. 04ATM 0417

    The hospital ATM that would run dry on Sunday

    Marisol Brandt · Cash Operations Analyst

    ATM 0417 in the Halloway Medical Center lobby has $31,260 and 1.2 days of cash. Marisol opens its line in place: on the $80,000 standing order the curve hits zero Sunday at 3:00 p.m.; the agents' $120,000, all in twenties, reaches the Tuesday 7:40 a.m. visit. If she disagrees, she changes the load with a reason and the Load planner and Limits agent recheck it.

    “Hospital payday moved to Wednesdays; on the standing order it runs out Sun 3:00 p.m.”

  5. 05Why $106,000

    The drivers add up to the forecast

    Forecast agent and Challenger agent

    Same four days over the last 8 weeks: $76,600. The hospital's payday, moved to every other Wednesday, adds $16,400; SSI on Friday $5,300; Halloween $6,100; Social Security on Tuesday $1,600. The Challenger found the payday after two Wednesday misses: $13,900 forecast against $20,700 actual on October 14, and $14,200 against $21,860 on October 28. $120,000 leaves $14,000 at the visit, above the $12,000 safety stock.

  6. 066:00 to 10:30 a.m.

    How the route was built, step by step

    The agents

    Ten steps, each with its agent's version, sources and confidence. The Challenger found 20 of 22 machines within 15% of yesterday's forecast and left ATM 0452's overnight spike, $48,800, out of demand with a referral to Fraud Operations. ATM 0461 is out of service, so the crew loads it only if it is repaired. ATM 0498, installed in September, has a confidence of 64%, under the 70% threshold, so a person must confirm its load.

    The referral's outcome is not shown in the solution.

  7. 07The limits

    Every vault through the week, not one number

    Limits agent

    The Dayton hub vault peaks at $3.18 million on Thursday and holds $3.13 million on Monday after the Federal Reserve order, against its $3.5 million insurance limit; sized for standing orders it would reach $3.78 million. Monday's $2,300,000 Federal Reserve order, 95 bundles of $20s and 4 of $100s, does not cross-ship: the fit $20s went in on Tuesday, October 27, and the order falls in a new business week.

  8. 0810:42 a.m. · 10:52 a.m.

    She sends it; her manager approves with one button

    Marisol Brandt and Owen Taggart

    Marisol sends Route 14 to Owen Taggart, Cash Operations Manager, with the exceptions and her changes summarized. Owen opens the same route and approves $1,840,000 for 24 stops after one check line: one truck, the Dayton hub vault at or under $3.18 million, every ATM under $200,000, the file before the cutoff. Had he changed a load, the approval would have gone to the Head of Cash Operations instead.

    “The Federal Reserve order for Monday stays a separate approval.”

  9. 09Accepted

    Only then does the carrier order file go

    Order file agent

    With both approvals in, the Order file agent sends order file HLV-1030-14 to Halvard Armored and the carrier portal accepts it: 24 stops, one line per machine by denomination, ATM 0461 marked to load only if in service. It drafts Friday's cash-in-transit entry for the general ledger. No card or account data is in the file, and it is kept five years.

  10. 10On the record

    Every forecast, change and approval, for the examiner

    Helen Marsh · Internal Audit

    The trail shows Owen's approval with the 4 exceptions he reviewed, Marisol's send, the 10:30 a.m. refresh, the ATM 0452 exclusion and the accepted file, people and agents side by side. Internal audit filters and searches it, and exports an audit pack for an examiner with redaction and a checksum.

    “Records are append-only.”

Who it’s for

Built for everyone who touches tomorrow's cash run.

The same route, seen by the people who carry it: what their day looked like, and what it looks like now.

MB
Marisol BrandtCash Operations Analyst · Ohio–Indiana, 6 routes and 131 stops
Cash Operations Analyst
Before
Adjusts standing orders in spreadsheets and checks vault, truck and cutoff limits by hand before 3:00 p.m.
Now
Opens each route already sized and checked, reads why each machine changed, and sends the rest.
OT
Owen TaggartCash Operations Manager · Midwest
Cash Operations Manager
Before
Approves every route order, emergency run and Federal Reserve order without seeing the limits behind them.
Now
Approves from one queue with the checks summarized, and approves clean routes together.
PN
Priya NandakumarBranch Manager · Kettering Avenue
Branch Manager
Before
Hears from customers when the hospital ATM is empty, and her requests get lost in email.
Now
Her note on the hospital's new payday reaches the forecast; she sees only her branch's stops and requests.
GF
Grant FeldmanTreasury Finance Analyst · signs off the cost of cash
Treasury Finance Analyst
Before
Asks every month what idle cash cost the bank, and why it moved.
Now
Signs off carry, insurance, transport and emergency runs by month, and exports them for finance.
Built on the engine

7 agents. Each with one job, and hard limits.

Seven agents forecast, challenge, size and check every order; the analyst prepares each route and the manager approves it.

Forecast agent

Forecasts demand for every ATM, recycler and vault by hour and denomination from 24 months of withdrawals, paydays, Social Security and SSI dates, holidays, weather and local events.

  • Never uses a forecast under 70% confidence without a person
  • Never forecasts from a pattern the Challenger excluded
Challenger agent

Compares yesterday's forecasts with actual withdrawals every morning, questions every machine above a 15% miss, and leaves unusual patterns out of demand with a referral.

  • Never records the outcome of a fraud referral
  • Asks, never overrides the Forecast agent
Load planner

Turns each forecast into a load by denomination that reaches the next visit with safety stock, in whole straps and cassettes, and explains every change from the standing order.

  • Never rounds below the safety stock
Limits agent

Checks every order against vault insurance limits through the week, each ATM's insured limit, the carrier's per-truck liability and cutoff, Federal Reserve bundle units, cross-shipping and holidays.

  • Never lets an order past a limit
  • Cannot approve an exception
Cash-out watcher

Reads ATM monitoring every 15 minutes, predicts each cash-out, and proposes an emergency run only when a machine will run out before its visit and the run costs less than the empty hours.

  • Never books a run without a manager
  • Never loads a machine that is out of service
Order file agent

After both people approve, builds and sends the carrier order file and the Federal Reserve order, checks the confirmations and drafts the general ledger entries.

  • Sends nothing that lacks two approvals
  • Never sends a file twice
Cost reporter

Computes the monthly cost of cash by region for treasury finance: carry at the bank's cost of funds, insurance, transport and emergency runs.

  • Reports only; changes nothing
Cash Operations Manager

Approves each route's order. The agents propose; a named person decides.

Ask in plain words

Ask about any route, machine or limit

Ask about any route, machine, vault, order or rule, in plain words. Every answer cites its source and takes you to the screen.

Why does ATM 0417 need $40,000 more?

On its standing order of $80,000, ATM 0417 runs out Sunday at 3:00 p.m., two days before its next visit. The hospital it serves moved staff pay to every other Wednesday on October 14, and the Challenger caught two Wednesday misses of about 50%. With SSI paid Friday and Halloween Saturday, demand to Tuesday is $106,000. $120,000 leaves $14,000 at the visit, above the $12,000 safety stock.

Will Route 14 stay inside every limit?

Yes. Route 14 carries $1,840,000, under the $2.5 million a Halvard Armored truck may carry; on the standing order of $2,610,000 it would need a second truck. The Dayton hub vault stays at or under $3.18 million against its $3.5 million limit, the Kettering Avenue vault reaches $508,000 of $600,000, and no ATM goes above $200,000. Monday's Federal Reserve order does not cross-ship.

Which machines could run out before their next visit?

In Ohio–Indiana, two. ATM 2214 on Polaris Pkwy runs out today at 6:40 p.m., with its visit on Saturday; a $60,000 emergency run waits for Owen Taggart. ATM 3108 on Post Rd runs out Friday at 1:10 a.m., ten hours before its visit, but only about $1,900 of withdrawals fall in that window, so the watcher proposes no run. ATM 0417 would have been the third; Route 14 covers it.

What did idle cash cost us in September?

In Ohio–Indiana, $346,242 to carry, insure and move, against $410,912 in July, the last month on standing orders. Average cash fell from $52.6 million to $41.2 million; carry at 4.10% a year was $140,767.

Every screen

The working solution, as it ships.

13 screens from the working solution, on its sample data. Pick one to see it large.

Tomorrow's run, one route at a timeATM cash forecasting as one route to approve: what the route carries against its standing order and the limits, three agents' notes, and every ATM and branch vault on one line with days of cash and the load by denomination.
A machine opened in placeThe cash curve to the next visit for the proposed load and the standing order, and a change with a reason that the agents recheck against the limits.
Every driver of the forecastOne ATM's forecast by day, the paydays, benefit dates and holidays that add up to it, each cited, and the Challenger's question that found the new payday.
How the agents built the routeTen steps with each agent's version, sources and confidence, the hand-offs to the analyst and manager, and what the agents may not do.
The analyst's morningFriday's routes ordered by urgency against their standing orders, a tracker to the 3:00 p.m. carrier cutoff, and what the agents found since 6:00 a.m.
The manager approvesMaker-checker on the ATM replenishment process: the manager approves the analyst's route with one button after a summary of the limit checks.
The carrier order fileSent only after both approvals and accepted by the carrier portal, one line per machine by denomination, with no card or account data.
The approvals queueRoutes, emergency runs, standing-order changes and the Federal Reserve order in one queue, with time to the cutoff and bulk approval for clean routes.
Cash-outs and emergency runsMachines that will run out before their visit, out of service or low on one denomination, each with the watcher's proposal and the cost of a run.
Vault cash management and the Federal Reserve orderEach vault against its insurance limit through the week, the Federal Reserve order with its cross-shipping check, and shipments waiting for a second count.
Forecast accuracyThe one-day and four-day miss against actual withdrawals, the machines the Challenger questioned, overrides by reason code against the agents, and versions.
The cost of idle cashCarry at the cost of funds, insurance, transport and emergency runs by month, signed off by treasury finance, with the network view.
The audit trailEvery forecast, change, approval and file for people and agents, searchable, with an export pack for internal audit and examiners.
Governance

Built for cash controls: cited, approved twice, on the record.

Every number opens its sourceEach figure on the route, machine, vault and cost screens opens the passage it came from: ATM monitoring, the cash management system, the carrier agreement, the bank's cash limits policy or the Social Security payment schedule.
Prepared by one person, approved by anotherThe analyst prepares and the manager approves every route order, emergency run, standing-order change and Federal Reserve order. A manager who changes an order hands it to the Head of Cash Operations, and bulk approval is only for routes with no exceptions.
No order past a limitThe Limits agent stops any order above a vault, ATM or truck limit or after the carrier cutoff, and cannot approve an exception. Limits, carriers and the driver calendar change only by a proposal the Head of Cash Operations approves.
Fraud referrals stay confidentialWhen the Challenger leaves a pattern out of demand, the solution shows only that it was excluded and referred. The referral's outcome, and any report, is never shown, recorded or exported here. Card and account numbers are never read or stored.
Two people on every shipmentShipments are received under dual control: the second count must be by a different person, and the same person is refused. Branch managers see only their own branch's stops, vaults and requests.
Every step on an append-only recordForecasts with their versions and drivers, every change and reason code, approvals, order files and carrier confirmations are on the audit trail, kept five years under the BSA retention rule (31 CFR 1010.430), and exported as a pack with redaction and a checksum.
Configuration

Your cash policy, not ours

The limits, thresholds and drivers every order is checked against are settings. The Cash Systems Administrator proposes a change and the Head of Cash Operations approves it, on the audit trail.

SettingDefaultChoose from
Hub vault insurance limits$3.5 million Dayton and Columbus · $3.0 million IndianapolisPropose a change; the Head of Cash Operations approves
ATM and recycler insured limits$200,000 any ATM · $250,000 teller cash recyclersBranch vaults $450,000 to $750,000 by branch
Armored carriersHalvard Armored $2.5 million a truck, file by 3:00 p.m. ETPellam Secure Logistics $2.0 million a truck, file by 2:00 p.m. ET
Confidence threshold70%Below it a person confirms the load; a proposal to 65% waits for approval
Challenger questionAny machine whose one-day miss is above 15%Shared by every region unless an override is approved
Safety stockHalf a day at the machine's busiest hoursATM 0417: $12,000
Emergency runOnly when the machine runs out before its visit and the empty hours cost more than the carrier's feeAgreeing to no run, or asking for one anyway, needs a reason
Forecast driversSocial Security and SSI dates, holidays and Federal Reserve closures, employer paydays, local events, weather: onEach can be switched off for a region · tax refunds and state benefit dates off until February
Connections

Works with the systems your cash already runs on

ATM monitoring systembalances, faults and withdrawals by hour
Cash management systemstanding orders, vault balances and limits
Armored carrier portalsorder files, emergency runs and confirmations
Federal Reserve cash orderingorders and shipment notices
General ledgercash-in-transit and cash entries, as drafts
Core banking and document imagingbranch references for requests, signed receipts and carrier manifests
What it changes

The difference, in numbers.

Every figure is labelled: a target the solution is built to, an estimate, a typical published result, or a proven one.

target
22%less
cash sitting idle in machines and vaults, aiming for the demo region's July-to-September drop
Standing orders$52.6M
With agents$41.2M
target
Everyorder
checked against vault insurance, ATM and truck limits and the carrier cutoff before anyone approves
target
3cash-outs
a month in the demo region, against 19 on standing orders
Standing orders19 a month
With agents3 a month

“demo” = seen in the working solution, on its sample data · “target” = the design goal, measured in the live solution · “estimated” = our estimate · “typical” = published figures (cash in 14% of US consumer payments: Federal Reserve, 2026 Diary of Consumer Payment Choice). Rules and schedules named on this page: the Federal Reserve's currency recirculation policy (cross-shipping), the Social Security Administration's 2026 payment schedule, 31 CFR 1010.430 (five-year retention). Corvane National Bank, Halvard Armored, Pellam Secure Logistics, Halloway Medical Center, the people, machines, routes and places named on this page are fictional: characters and sample data in the working solution.

Questions

What cash operations teams ask us.

What is ATM cash forecasting?

ATM cash forecasting predicts how much cash each ATM, teller cash recycler and branch vault will pay out before its next armored-carrier visit, so each order is big enough and no bigger. ATM & Branch Cash Forecasting adds agents that forecast every machine by hour and denomination, size each load, check every vault, ATM and truck limit, and explain each change from the standing order, for an analyst to prepare and a manager to approve.

What ATM cash forecasting techniques does it use?

The Forecast agent reads 24 months of withdrawals by hour and denomination and adds the drivers: Social Security and SSI dates, federal holidays and Federal Reserve closures, employer paydays near machines, local events and weather. Each driver shows its effect on the forecast with a citation. Every morning the Challenger compares yesterday's forecasts with actual withdrawals and questions any machine that missed by more than 15%.

How does it keep vault cash inside insurance limits?

The Limits agent checks each vault through the whole week, not one day, along with each ATM's insured limit, the carrier's liability per truck and its order cutoff. It also sizes the Federal Reserve order in full bundles and checks it against the cross-shipping rule. It never lets an order past a limit and cannot approve an exception.

What happens to an unusual withdrawal pattern?

The Challenger leaves it out of demand so it does not inflate the order, and refers it to Fraud Operations. The solution shows only that the pattern was excluded and referred; the referral's outcome is never shown, recorded or exported in cash systems.

When does it propose an emergency run?

The Cash-out watcher reads ATM monitoring every 15 minutes. It proposes a run only when a machine will run out before its visit and the empty hours cost more than the carrier's fee. A manager approves every run, and agreeing to no run is a logged decision too.

Do people stay in control of cash orders?

Yes. The agents propose and explain; the analyst prepares the route and the manager approves it, and the carrier order file is sent only after both. A manager who changes an order hands it to the Head of Cash Operations, a forecast under 70% confidence needs a person, and every override carries a reason code.

Can we set our own limits, carriers and forecast drivers?

Yes. Vault, ATM and recycler limits, carriers' truck limits and cutoffs, the confidence threshold, the Challenger's question level, safety stock, the emergency run rule and each forecast driver are settings. A change is proposed by the Cash Systems Administrator and approved by the Head of Cash Operations, on the audit trail.

How long does it take to go live?

The Agentic Solution Engine builds and deploys it from your requirements and documents, such as your cash limits policy, carrier agreements, standing orders and withdrawal history, and it goes live once every quality gate has passed. We will walk you through it on your own routes first.

See it on
your routes.

We'll run ATM & Branch Cash Forecasting on a sample of your own routes, standing orders and withdrawal history.