Applicant name: CashQ Inc
Applicant type: Private Company
Website: mycashq.com
Headquarter City: Miami
Headquarter Country: United States
Innovation Name: CashQ API is a global push payments platform for banks and neobankd
Innovation Type: Service
Category: Remittance Evolution
Status of Innovation: Pilot
Innovation Active Since: 05/01/2022
Innovation Description: The CashQ API is a global push payments platform specifically designed for banks and neobanks in the USA, the world’s largest remittance outflow market. Our platform provides a much-needed solution for the lack of efficient cross-border payment options in current banking applications, even in major banks and neobanks. We enable instant, seamless, and secure funds transfer to any account worldwide using just card or phone numbers, democratizing access to digital financial services.
What has been a strategy you implement to be ahead of the market? Our strategy is two-fold. First, we work closely with the banking community to understand their needs and provide tailored solutions. This allows us to align our innovation with industry requirements. Second, we actively implement and expand partnership channels with major cloud bank application providers and Bank-as-a-Service platforms. This increases our reach and ability to influence the remittance market, keeping us at the forefront of industry advancements.
What has been your competitive advantage in adapting so quickly to market change? Our competitive advantage lies in our unique strategy and technological excellence. Unlike others, we focus on partnering with banks and neobanks that have established customer bases, enhancing their offerings with our innovative remittance services. Our platform facilitates real-time payments, reducing operational costs and support needs. Furthermore, we significantly mitigate the risk level in transactions between financial institutions, ensuring safer and more secure transactions. This combination of strategic partnerships, technological innovation, and risk reduction sets us apart.
What has been the biggest change that was essential for your evolution?
The most significant change essential for our evolution was the digitalization surge that followed the COVID-19 pandemic, which spurred a global shift from cash to digital transactions and catalyzed the rise of neobanks. Additionally, the development of new national interbank systems, like PIX, UPI, SPEI, etc., provided an impetus to create a solution compatible with these advancements. These pivotal changes prompted the development of our API-driven platform, ensuring we remained at the forefront of delivering secure, efficient cross-border payments.
What was the inspiration for this innovation? Our founders were inspired years ago by the transformative potential of mobile money services like Airtel, MTN, and M-Pesa across the vast African continent. The vision was to create a universally accessible and beneficial financial system. Observing the success of Zelle technology in the U.S., we were motivated to develop a similar concept on a global scale. Our ambition led to the creation of CashQ API – a borderless Zelle – facilitating secure, efficient, and cost-effective cross-border transactions, thereby promoting greater financial inclusion worldwide.
Who can benefit from your innovation most?
Primarily, our innovation benefits banks, neobanks, and their customers by offering an efficient, cost-effective solution for global fund transfers. Mainly, customers from immigrant families or those working in gig economies will find our platform an affordable and convenient solution for cross-border transactions. By reducing discrimination in digital financial services, CashQ empowers individuals, irrespective of their experience or education level, to participate in global finance. Furthermore, our commitment to lowering the cost of cross-border transactions aligns with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, benefiting society at large.
What are you most proud of about your innovation?
We’re immensely proud of our innovation’s alignment with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals and its broader social impact. CashQ API not only contributes to alleviating poverty (Goal 1), promoting decent work and economic growth (Goal 8), and fostering resilient infrastructure (Goal 9) but also plays a crucial role in reducing inequalities (Goal 10). By democratizing access to financial services, our platform reduces discrimination in digital financial services, making cross-border transactions accessible to all, regardless of experience or education level. It’s rewarding to see our technology driving positive societal changes on a global scale.
Why do you think you should win this category?
CashQ API is highly relevant to the “Remittance Evolution Award” category. Our platform, specifically designed for banks and neobanks, revolutionizes the way cross-border transactions are conducted, addressing issues of high costs, slow delivery times, and limited access in current banking applications.
By democratizing access to financial services, CashQ makes remittances faster, affordable, and accessible, thereby aligning with the ethos of the Remittance Evolution Award. This is particularly significant given the market opportunity for outbound cross-border payments in the US alone stands at $0.5 trillion.
Our competitive advantage lies in our commitment to real-time, low-cost, secure cross-border transactions, reducing discrimination in digital financial services, and promoting financial inclusion. We are not just a payments service; we are a technology partner for banks and neobanks, helping them stay competitive in the evolving digital banking landscape.
Our team, comprised of experienced professionals from banking, technology, and fintech industries, understands the pain points of cross-border payments. We are driven by our commitment to resolve these issues and align our efforts with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, including alleviating poverty (Goal 1), fostering decent work and economic growth (Goal 8), and reducing inequalities (Goal 10).
The impact of CashQ API is substantial, extending beyond the operational efficiencies for banks and neobanks to include broader societal benefits, such as financial inclusion and reduced inequality. We take immense pride in our technology’s potential to drive positive societal changes on a global scale.
