A Canadian company is marketing a new mobile payment technology called Kash, that may revolutionize how we pay for goods and services. All payments can be made via an app on a mobile phone. This will be convenient for consumers, and retailers won't be charged credit card fees when transactions are made through Kash. We can expect it to launch this summer.

Shoppers will benefit from the technology. The Kash payment app will allow users to pay for their purchases without waiting in line, and users will get 1% cash back as an added bonus. Users may also collect e-receipts, receive loyalty points, order products from their phones before visiting a store, and transfer money to their friends without ever having to pay banks fees or apply for a credit card.

Kash will also benefit retailers. For years, many retailers have complained about credit card fees which, over time, can eat into retailer profit margins. Last year, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) (representing over 100,000 Canadian businesses) and the Canadian Competition Bureau took Visa and MasterCard to a tribunal to try to keep rising refit card merchants in check. Dan Kelly, President of CFIB, said at the time that merchants felt “powerless” in the face of big, international companies who had 'all the power'. Kash may change that.

For those who are curious, Kash withdraws money from a customer’s bank account and therefore avoids all credit card fees. A demonstration and further explanation is provided in the video below:

“While smartphones have been changing every aspect of our lives, the way we buy things, pay for things, and transfer money has not changed in a substantial way since the introduction of the debit card,” said Kaz Nejatian, CEO of AvidRetail (Kash's creator). “With Kash, we are using the most transformative thing in our lives, the smartphone, to completely change how we pay retailers, order products, and transfer money to our friends.”

Nejatian went on to say, “With Kash, when you leave home you don’t need to take your wallet, all you need is a drivers license and your phone. All the pieces of paper and plastic that used to go into your big, fat wallet can now fit in your phone.”

“I come from a long line of retailers, I know how hard it is to be a retailer and to see 3 or 4% of your bottom line disappear at the end of the day. At AvidRetail, we’re committed to making sure that retail is smarter, more intimate, and more profitable.”

As of today, Kash's waiting list to sign up is open in Canada and the United States. Kash will be delivered to its users on a first come, first served basis in the summer of 2014. You can sign-up here: www.withkash.com

[AvidRetail website]

[Kash website]