CardCash to Start Rolling out Mobile App for Gift Cards, Offer Bitcoin-Only Discounts
In August Bitcoin Magazine reported that CardCash, an American online company that buys and sells discounted gift cards from thousands of national retailers, had started to accept bitcoin payments, joining companies such as Gyft and Fold in providing ways to purchase gift cards from major retailers with bitcoin.
Founded in 2008, CardCash has been included in the Forbes’ list of America’s Most Promising Companies for the last three years, as well as in the Inc. 500 list of the fastest growing private companies in America for the past four years. In November 2013, the company raised $6 million in Series A funding from Guggenheim Partners.
Bitcoin Magazine reached out to Eric Berger, director of growth strategy at CardCash, to find out more about the company’s bitcoin-related strategy.
Could you explain in a few words the main benefit that CardCash brings to consumers?
CardCash has been the industry leader in security, speed and innovation for nearly a decade. The benefits our consumers enjoy are as follows:
- CardCash offers gift card liquidity by allowing consumers to exchange their unwanted gift cards quickly and securely for cash.
- CardCash offers consumers the opportunity to purchase second-hand gift cards to their favorite retailers at significant discounts. These savings can amount to hundreds or thousands of dollars each year for our regular customers.
- Lastly, CardCash fully guarantees each purchase for 45 days. That means that customers have over six worry-free weeks to use their cards.
Furthermore, with CardCash’s acceptance of bitcoin, we have now bridged the gap between bitcoin users and over 1,000 retailers that do not yet accept the innovative digital currency.
How do consumers use your mobile app? How is the rollout plan proceeding?
Our mobile app is set to launch at the end of October. Customers will be able to purchase gift cards using their same account information, just as they would online, with our omni-channel account access. The app also has full wallet functionality, allowing customers to store their gift cards and even purchase goods at retailers’ physical stores straight through the app. The next iteration of the app will also include Apple Pay and Android Pay along with improved location-based technology that will allow us to custom-tailor promotions to suit each customer better.
Do you have plans to expand beyond the U.S. to international markets, and, if so, what’s your expected timeline for that?
We believe that the current domestic opportunity is still in its infancy. With this enormous potential, our primary focus for the foreseeable future is on the U.S. market. We do look forward for the opportunity to share our valuable service with new markets and consumers when the time is right.
You mention strict AML/KYC compliance policies. Isn’t that likely to become a barrier to CardCash adoption from bitcoin users?
CardCash has always been the industry leader concerning customer security and AML/KYC compliance, and we will continue to meet these standards for our new bitcoin users. We have seen no barriers to CardCash’s bitcoin adoption and are excited for the tremendous potential impact in the bitcoin community. Policies such as purchase limits, fraud detection and account monitoring will be no different for our bitcoin users. These not only satisfy compliance requirements, they also help detect and deter fraudulent activity that ends up costing everyone more.
How do the bitcoin-only discounts work, and are you already able to offer bitcoin-only discounts?
Bitcoin discounts will be an automatically credited discount at checkout, passing back our savings on transactions fees back to the consumer. We will also have bitcoin-only coupons from time to time to market, specifically, to the bitcoin community. We plan on implementing these discounts in the very near future.
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