TravelCash, a new mobile payment system, is using blockchain technology to provide a digital alternative to the credit card industry by introducing a lower cost payment processing solution, resulting in significant savings for merchants and customers. TravelCash is developing a cryptocurrency and integrated mobile payment and rewards system over the Stellar platform which is capable of processing between 1,000 and 5,000 transactions per second.
When it comes to credit cards, merchants face high processing and transaction fees that can run as high as 3.5 to 4 percent. For merchants that experience a high volume of chargebacks, this fee can run even higher. Even paying 2 percent—not counting the additional monthly and per-item fees—can dramatically alter the cash flow of a business. With brick-and-mortar retailers facing increasingly tight margins, a low-fee payment system could mean the difference between profitability and running in the red.
“With our fees at just 1 percent, we save merchants 50 percent to 70 percent over credit cards and because the app lets merchants take payments immediately, no additional equipment is needed,” says Will Gozzard, chief vision officer for TravelCash. “The process is designed to be seamless and the savings are substantial.”
For consumers, TravelCash is developing a digital wallet in the form of a mobile app, with many of the features being built to streamline the purchasing process, reduce the risk of fraud and eliminate waste. In the future, consumers will be able to pay for goods and services using a TravelCash QR code, collect merchant rewards such as airline miles or grocery store gas points, and save receipts, all through TravelCash’s recoverable wallet, stored securely on the Cloud.
“In fact, we envision TravelCash being accepted in every aspect of life: from online travel booking sites, to grocery stores, from hotels to restaurants and at gas pumps – even on sharing economy platforms such as Uber and Airbnb,” says Gozzard. “With our app, consumers can simply pay on the go with their phones and not have to worry about any of the risks of carrying cash or credit cards.”