We all have belongings that are precious to us, which is why a Durban entrepreneur, Theo Moodley, has created Capital Vaults.
In South Africa, and KwaZulu-Natal especially, everyone knows someone who has been a victim of crime. People know they have to keep irreplaceable family heirlooms, jewels, cash, Krugerrands and important documentation away from home or business premises because this creates a target for smart and violent criminals.
No one wants to put their family or their colleagues at risk, but we worry about safeguarding vital valuables. The question is where to keep these safe?
Durban entrepreneur, Theo Moodley, created Capital Vaults to respond to this challenge in a world beset by insecurity. He and angel investors have spent a small fortune creating the “safer safety deposit box”.
Theo is a chartered accountant with investments in a host of businesses. Three years ago he set about de-risking his house and realised how perilously vulnerable our homes can be and why it made supreme sense to get the valuables away from us.
VAULT
Theo looked around for somewhere to store his valuables, but nothing measured up to his standards. The banks don’t offer safety deposit boxes because of the risks associated with them. And so Capital Vaults was born.
But where do you locate a business like this?
Consider a place situated on a stand-alone site, with only one way in and one way out. It is a place with exceptionally strong and state-of-the-art security 24/7. The answer? A casino.
The company signed a 20-year lease to house Capital Vaults in the Sibaya casino complex. The company won’t divulge where in the complex they are housed, but create a mental picture of a vault with impenetrable thick steel walls somewhere in the concrete reinforced basement. It has a three-phase physical entrance and an ingeniously engineered access system.
INGENUITY
In collaboration with Gunnebo, a global security leader headquartered in Gothenburg, Sweden, and founded in 1764, Capital Vaults has created a world-class robotic system that almost eradicates human interface and is completely keyless. The company spent years working with IT engineers developing access to the safe, Gunnebo’s South Africa Sales Director, Gail Carew said.
The system eliminates risks associated with human intervention. To sign up you call a customer service centre. A name, a bank card and a fingerprint is required. Capital Vaults doesn’t know what is in your safety deposit box.
HOW IT WORKS
The system combines technology, anonymity, and advanced user identification with multiple layers of authentication.
To access your deposit box you go into one of two secure privacy suites available – a private lounge in the casino. Entry is via card (any bank card works), biometric fingerprint and numeric password. Once alone inside the suite, you approach a console where you input the same data again.
Capital Vaults customers carry no cards or branded insignia, reducing the risk of being targeted.
Once a card, pin and fingerprint have been entered it initiates a robotic sequence that extracts your secure automated box from the vault within a minute, using a unique user ID. Once you have engaged with the contents of your box, it is locked and transported back into the vault.
Customers have access to four different boxes, which are dubbed silver, gold, platinum and diamond and vary in size: capable of holding 10kg, 15kg, 20kg and 25kg. An example of how big the silver box is – it holds 294 Kruger Coins, or is adequately sized to store a will, birth certificates, ID documents and other essentials.
No documentation is required to open a safety deposit box, and customers remain completely anonymous and never have to identify themselves to anyone. There is no record of customer transactions. Capital Vault’s promise is that computerised robotics will never steal from you.
Monthly rental ranges between R379 and R1 039, and there are no contracts and no joining fees. Given the location of Capital Vaults, access is available 24/7/365.
ADDITIONAL PROTECTION
The key differentiator of Capital Vaults is that when humans have to get involved, the system requires a unique six-eye security protocol. Humans only enter the vault under exceptional circumstances and when they do, three people or six eyes have to be present including a Capital Vaults employee, a Gunnebo staffer and a Capital Vaults head of security. Everything they do in the vault is recorded and transmitted live to Gunnebo’s offi ce. An example of when humans have to enter the vault might be in the case of an emergency, death or disability. If a customer is involved in a fatal car crash, they will have left instructions for who can access the vault along with an inventory of what is in their box. If that inventory is disputed, the six-eye protocol is engaged and the box is inspected by three unconnected and independent people and
recorded. The system has been stress tested globally and no one can gain access to the vaults – not even Theo Moodley himself if he were put under duress to do so.