In a world beset by change and insecurity, people crave certainty and security, especially for the things they hold dear. Which is why a Durban entrepreneur, Theo Moodley, has created Capital Vaults.
Moodley and angel investors have spent a small fortune creating what they describe as the “safer safety deposit box”, but might arguably be the safest safety deposit box system in South Africa.
Moodley is a chartered accountant with investments in a host of businesses. Three years ago he set about de-risking his house, an exercise that proved how perilously vulnerable our homes can be and why it makes supreme sense to get the valuables we store there away from us.
Keeping irreplaceable family heirlooms, jewels, cash, Krugerrands and important documentation makes our homes and businesses targets for smart and violent criminals. Everyone knows someone who has been robbed and Moodley didn’t want his young family to be a target. We often unthinkingly put the lives of our loved ones at risk by safeguarding the things they hold dear at home.
Vault
So Moodley looked around for somewhere to store his valuables. Everything he looked at didn’t measure up to his standards. In recent years the major banks have moved away from offering safety deposit boxes because of the risks associated with keeping them.
And so Capital Vaults was born. But where to locate it?
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 is a place with a three-phase physical entrance and an ingenious, bespoke Swedish engineered access system – all of which humans seldom get sight of.
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 a bespoke access to the safe, Gunnebo’s South Africa Sales Director, Gail Carew said.
Moodley says the system is engineered to eliminate risks associated with human intervention. “We wanted a system that was automated and independent of people who can be put under pressure and potentially crack. To sign up you call our customer service centre. All we need is a name, a bank card and your fingerprint. We don’t need to know you and we certainly don’t want to know what is in your safety deposit box.”
How it works
The system combines technology and anonymity. The advanced user identifi cation involves a card reader, three levels of authentication.
This is how it works: 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 on a terminal where you input the same data again.
Capital Vaults customers carry no cards or branded insignia identifying the company, which dramatically reduces the risk of them being targeted.
Once your card, pin and fingerprint have been entered into the system it initiates the robotic sequence that engages with your Secure Automated Boxes or SABs. Your safety deposit box is extracted from the vault and within a minute it emerges and the terminal opens.
The robotics has located the box associated with a unique user ID. Once you have engaged with the contents of your box, it locks and transports your box back into the vault.
Customers have access to four different sized boxes, which are dubbed silver, gold, platinum and diamond and vary in size, and are capable of holding 10kg, 15kg, 20kg and 25kg. An example of how big the silver box is – it holds 294 Kruger Coins.
Monthly rental of the boxes range 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. No documentation is required to open a safety deposit box.
A silver size box is adequately sized to store a will, birth certifi cates, ID documents and other essential documentation. Customers remain completely anonymous and never have to identify themselves to anyone. There is no record of customer transactions. Part of Capital Vault’s pledge is that computerised robotics will never steal from you.
Additional protection
While the system is fully automated with highly encrypted Swedish software, it has been refi ned and enhanced over 40 years from one of the leading vault companies in the world. 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 transmitted live to Gunnebo’s office in Germany and is recorded.
An example of when humans have to enter the vault might be in the case of an emergency, death or disability. If a customer has stored valuables in his or her safety deposit box and 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 video of that process is transmitted live to Germany. The system cannot be manipulated and has been stress tested around the world. In addition, no one can gain access to the vaults – not even Moodley himself if he were put under duress to do so.
FOR MORE INFO: http://capitalvaults.com/#video
