Belgium’s central bank, the National Bank of Belgium, has inaugurated its new cash centre In Zellik (Flemish Brabant). It’s a super-secure and automated distribution centre for all our country's banknotes and coins that cost more than 100 million euros.
At its cash centre, the National Bank organises all Belgian cash traffic. Banknotes and coins leave bound for banks and ATMs, and all Belgian reserves of cash money are kept here, as well as a small stock of gold.
A lot of money also arrives here. The National Bank checks all notes in circulation once a year. Dirty or damaged notes are taken out of circulation and destroyed.
At the centre of the brand-new cash centre is a 27-metre-high vault, seven metres of which are underground. All cash is stored here in wooden crates. People do not enter the giant safe. Everything is automated. Two robotic arms are used to manipulate the crates. The system can stand entirely on its own two feet: even if electricity fails elsewhere, work continues as usual.
Even a moat
Construction work on the building lasted for more than three years. Security is advanced with both visible and invisible systems. The building is also secured against drones. Anyone wanting to enter must pass a hand and iris scan. The building is surrounded by a kind of medieval moat.
The amounts of cash circulating in the building are ‘astronomically high’, the National Bank says. How much exactly the bank would not disclose.
The National Bank's previous cash centre was located in the basement of the National Bank HQ in the centre of Brussels. A move was imminent. The buildings are outdated and transporting money in the centre of the capital is not without its difficulties.