Currency dispenser

An employee-assisted customer-operated deposit processing and currency dispensing device, comprising:

• a housing;
• a user interface configured to receive user inputs associated with financial transactions, the financial transactions including at least deposit transactions and withdrawal transactions;
• at least one display device configured to display information associated with a financial transaction;
• at least one input receptacle configured to receive from a customer both currency bills and financial institution documents to be processed in conjunction with a deposit transaction;
• a plurality of document-containing receptacles;
• at least one output receptacle configured to receive currency bills to be dispensed to the customer in conjunction with a withdrawal transaction, the at least one output receptacle being distinct from the at least one input receptacle;
• a transport mechanism configured to transport both currency bills and financial institution documents, one at a time, from the at least one input receptacle, past at least one sensor, and to one or more of the document-containing receptacles, the transport mechanism further configured to transport currency bills from one or more of the document-containing receptacles to the at least one output receptacle;
• one or more of the at least one sensor being configured to generate image data associated with at least each financial institution document transported past the sensor, the image data associated with a document being usable to recreate an image of the document, one or more of the at least one sensor being configured to generate a characteristic information output signal associated with at least each currency bill transported past the sensor;
• and
• a processor coupled to the at least one sensor and configured to receive therefrom the image data and the characteristic information output signal, the processor being configured to determine from at least the characteristic information output signal a denomination of an associated currency bill, the processor also being coupled to the user interface and the transport mechanism, the processor being further configured to control the transports mechanism to selectively transport currency bills from the at least one input receptacle to one or more of the document-containing receptacles in conjunction with a deposit transaction or from one or more of the document-containing receptacles to the at least one output receptacle in conjunction with a withdrawal transaction, or both, based on the user inputs received via the user interface.

A kiosk for conducting financial transactions, the kiosk comprising:

• one or more user interfaces configured to receive user inputs associated with financial transactions, the financial transactions including at least deposit transactions and withdrawal transactions;
• one or more display devices configured to display information associated with a financial transaction to a user;
• one or more input receptacles configured to receive currency bills and financial institution documents associated with at least one deposit transaction;
• one or more output receptacles configured to receive dispensed currency bills, the one or more output receptacles being distinct from the one or more input receptacles;
• one or more sensors configured to capture images and acquire data from currency bills and financial institution documents associated with the at least one deposit transaction;
• a plurality of document-containing receptacles;
• and
• a transport system configured to transport currency bills and financial institution documents from the one or more input receptacles, past the one or more sensors, to one or more of the document-containing receptacles, the transport system also being configured to transport currency bills from one or more of the document-containing receptacles to the one or more output receptacles.

A currency processing device configured to receive currency bills from a customer, dispense currency bills to a customer, and denominate both bills received and bills dispensed, the currency processing device comprising:

• an input receptacle configured to receive currency bills from a customer;
• an output receptacle configured to output currency bills to the customer, the output receptacle being positioned to be easily accessible to the customer;
• bill-containing receptacles, one or more of the bill-containing receptacles being configured to receive currency bills from the input receptacle, one or more of the bill-containing receptacles being configured to dispense currency bills to the output receptacle;
• a sensor configured to acquire evaluation data from bills being transported:
• from the input receptacle to bill-containing receptacles and from bill-containing receptacles to the output receptacle;
• a transport mechanism configured to transport bills:
• from the input receptacle to bill-containing receptacles and from bill-containing receptacles to the output receptacle;
• and
• a processor coupled to the sensor and configured to determine the denomination of a bill based on the acquired evaluation data associated with the bill, whereby each bill received from the customer may be subjected to the denomination determination and each bill to be dispensed to the customer may be subjected to the denomination determination.