The “c” in convenience store could just as easily mean “cash,” because for most in-store customers, hard currency continues to be the most readily available and most convenient form of payment. While some industry analysts talk of an impending cashless retail future, the reality (and the foreseeable future) remains that a solid number of in-store customers prefer cash over credit and debit cards.

Dramatically illustrating this point was an article in the February 15 issue of The Economist. In the article, Visa (yes, the credit card company) published numbers confirming that cash accounts for “most of the $1.3 trillion spent annually across the world on ‘small-ticket items.’”

And while the jury is out as to whether the volume of cash transactions will rise or fall in the future, the verdict on counterfeiting of money is clear: it’s on the rise, which can be attributed to modern advances in off-the-shelf technologies such as home computers, publishing software and high-quality printers and scanners.

USA Today recently reported that approximately $62 million in counterfeit bills entered circulation in the 2006 fiscal year, according to U.S. Secret Service data. This represents a more than 10 percent increase from the prior year and a 69 percent rise from just three years earlier.

While counterfeiting is on the rise, the process of hand counting and validating incoming cash with special markers is a time-consuming and monotonous activity that regularly pulls managers away from customers. Therefore, some retailers are finding that cash-handling technology is becoming a business necessity — particularly for those who process large amounts of cash. Identifying counterfeit bills before they are deposited also serves to significantly reduce the fees charged by banks when adjustments are made.

Counterfeiting of money is one of the oldest crimes in history. Counterfeiters are often organized enterprises, and because of this, retailers also need to become organized in their approach to battling the crime. If counterfeiters are aware that a specific retail chain is using specialized validating technology, word will spread quickly and attempts to pass counterfeit money through the chain are likely to decrease. Counterfeiters, like most criminals, search for easy targets — not the hardest.

When researching bill validation and cash-handling technologies available to the convenience store industry, retailers should consider products that use two key types of technology to detect counterfeits in circulation today: multi-wavelength optical detection and advanced magnetic sensing technology. This combined approach helps ensure that the validator takes advantage of all security features embedded in U.S. currency.

Retailers cannot afford to ignore the issue of counterfeit currency, as it directly affects their bottom line.

More information on how to detect counterfeit currency is available at the U.S. Secret Service Counterfeit Division Web site.

Van Carlisle is the president and CEO of FireKing. He can be reached at (800) 457-2424. Dave Elich is the vice president of commercial sales at JCM American Corporation. He can be reached at (508) 337-4906.