PriyaPatelTLDR:
- Chair of the Payment Choice Alliance, Ron Delnevo, questions the lack of interest from UK fintechs in including cash in e-commerce.
- Kasssh: A B2B2C company offering an innovative online solution for cash customers who want to shop online.
Chair of the Payment Choice Alliance, Ron Delnevo, wonders why so few UK fintechs are interested in finding ways to include cash in e-commerce. The high street banks have suppressed cash innovation in the UK, with ATMs in the UK offering only cash withdrawal services. This is because the more services ATMs offer, the more useful they would become, resulting in more resistance to their removal. The recent HM Treasury Policy Statement on Cash Access also failed to mention ATMs, suggesting that the Treasury is working to remove them without explicitly stating so. Cash innovation is also being suppressed in other areas, such as the Community Cash Access pilots.
However, a new company called Kasssh is looking to provide an innovative online solution for cash customers. Kasssh works with e-commerce retailers and allows customers to order merchandise online and receive a unique barcode at checkout. The customer then visits one of Kasssh’s partner stores, such as Pay Point locations in the UK, and pays the amount owed against the barcode. Kasssh uses smart technology to quickly settle the payment with the e-commerce site’s existing payment provider. Kasssh aims to include more people in the digital economy by offering a payment choice for those who prefer to use cash. The founder and CEO of Kasssh, Piero Macari, used to work at Mastercard and saw the need for a digital solution for cash users that was more affordable than existing card-based products. Kasssh hopes to expand globally, as cash payments still account for more than 80% of all payments worldwide.
