PointsKash:Converting Rewards Into Everyday Spend

In this Leaders InFocus edition, we speak with Steve Janjic, CEO of PointsKash, winner of Most Innovative Payments USA 2025. With a sharp focus on unlocking the latent value in loyalty programs and streamlining consumer access to rewards, PointsKash is transforming how everyday transactions are made and incentivised.

By combining mobile-first payments technology with physical kiosk infrastructure across high-traffic retail locations, PointsKash empowers users to convert loyalty points into spendable currency—on the spot. From fuel stations to convenience stores, the platform merges real-time redemption, crypto utility, and digital coupons into a unified experience that meets consumers where they are. In this interview, Janjic outlines how PointsKash is bridging the gap between underused rewards and tangible value, offering a frictionless, data-secure solution for both merchants and customers in an increasingly rewards-driven economy.

Brett 

Congratulations on winning Most Innovative Payments USA 2025. How does this accolade reflect PointsKash's vision and progress so far?

Steve 

Well, from a business perspective, we obviously couldn't be more excited within our roadmap, as we have developed our products and started to move into the market, we hoped to, as we say, Get-All-Eyes-On-Us, and we've been very fortunate to have been able to grow, establish a really good footprint within specific industries that have a tremendous need from our product and yes, we find it really exciting to start seeing accolades for what we've developed, because ultimately, we feel like we're at the forefront of technology, and to start receiving accolades is really exciting to us.

Brett 

PointsKash has been described as a disruptive force in FinTech. What inspired your unique one-stop approach to combining banking services, loyalty rewards, and a cryptocurrency solution?

Steve 

As people look at the market as a whole, they naturally seek better products, newer technologies, and cost-effective solutions. From our perspective, we envisioned taking every service you’d normally visit a bank for and putting it in a simple, easy-to-use kiosk. That approach gives consumers quick, convenient access—even 24 hours a day—and uses technology to expand our customer base. By handing that technology directly to the individual, we’re meeting a clear need: as you’ve likely seen, many customers find traditional bank visits less appealing and increasingly want one-stop shopping.

Our kiosks allow users to access an ATM, purchase cryptocurrency, cash checks, pay bills, buy gift cards, and even obtain a Discover debit card on the spot—all services people use every day, consolidated into one place. That made a lot of sense to us, and frankly, we aim to disrupt the entire banking sector with this all-in-one offering.

Brett 

That brings me nicely to the PointsKash kiosk. You are set to revolutionise the customer experience at fuel stations, convenience stores and other outlets across the USA. Could you share the story behind their development and the key technological innovations behind them?

Steve 

I think from what we’ve developed and how we use the newest technology, we decided to build both our rewards and payment app, as well as our kiosk functionality on the back end. We carefully follow a strict protocol and incorporate blockchain to ensure the transparency every stakeholder requires. If you examine our app in that context, it grants users a way to accumulate rewards points, utilize them in real time, and keep a clear record of every transaction, both backward and forward. This approach guarantees no fraud in the market and that all allocated points genuinely reach each individual. By extending what we’ve built for the app into a kiosk infrastructure, we offer an integrated experience. This integration is crucial for meeting diverse consumer preferences around the clock, whether consumers walk up to a kiosk directly or engage with the app first, then finalize certain tasks through the kiosk. For instance, a user might redeem points in the app and then withdraw cash at the kiosk. Merging these elements and using blockchain on the back end enables us to securely track every activity and maintain complete transparency for ourselves, our banking partners, and our customers. This approach significantly reshapes the industry by uniting rewards, payments, and direct customer interactions in one ecosystem. We believe that is precisely where the market is heading, and it mirrors our commitment to staying at the forefront of innovation, ensuring everyone benefits from a seamless, cost-effective experience. From a broader perspective, that synergy also lets us respond quickly to user feedback and market trends, strengthening our offerings as we grow.

Brett 

The loyalty rewards engine application seems to tackle the age-old problem of under-redeemed points. How does your solution convert those disparate rewards into tangible value for your customers?

Steve 

So if you look at the rewards points industry, especially post-COVID, there’s been a major increase in how easily people can earn these points. At the same time, they’ve struggled to spend them, leading to a surge in unredeemed points—now nearing seven to eight hundred billion dollars, with hundreds of millions more generated each year. That’s where we come in: the average household has around 26 different rewards programs, yet most people rely on only one or two. It’s not feasible to manage 30 apps on your phone, so they stick with the programs offering the best redemption value.

We wanted to give consumers the option to track all their rewards in one place, whether it’s $20 in airline miles or $100 in credit card points. Through our solution, you can see your entire balance at a glance and redeem it however you wish—gas, groceries, even a trip to the salon. By providing real-time visibility, we help ensure these points aren’t wasted. In many cases, they’ve never been fully utilized due to a lack of easy consolidation. Hundreds of millions of new points are issued annually, adding to the growing pool of unspent value.

By offering a straightforward interface that unifies every loyalty program, we’re empowering people to maximize their rewards. This approach truly marks a major shift in how consumers engage with loyalty programs, granting an unprecedented level of convenience, choice, and control. We believe this transformation meets a critical need and will reshape the industry. Ultimately, we’re enabling people to do more with the rewards they’ve already earned, making it simpler than ever to unlock real value—no matter which programs they favor.

Brett 

A stat says around 25% of the US population is underbanked. Given the profile of where you're putting your PointsKash kiosks, how do you tailor your service to meet the needs of this significant market segment?

Steve 

Well, if you look at the underbanked as well as the unbanked, your numbers are correct. It's now approaching about 30% of the US population. What you find is that need for the traditional consumer that need that. You know, the reason that they're under banked or unbanked is because it's expensive to bank. And when you're in an economy where you have inflation and where people need to stretch the dollar, the first place they look is they look for places where they can save money. So they'll go to check cashing centres. They'll go many will use Western Union, and they'll use those services for multi faceted products, whether it be sending money abroad or or Bill Pay or or a phone top up. There's an entire community of of close to 100 million people here United States that are looking for a quick, easy access point to be able to cash a check, send funds cross border, be able to pay their bills really quickly at the same time, and top up their phone all in one machine while they're standing in the convenience store, and they take out the balance, whether it be in cash or a gift card, and now they can make a purchase in the store, so they can quickly grab the groceries and and have already done everything you would do in a traditional banking environment, right there in the store On a kiosk, which, from a consumer perspective, saves time, saves money, and most importantly, it really also saves the individual store staff, which is really important in a time of inflationary pressures and were people looking to save money. So it also replaces at least one or two individuals in a store that would ultimately be at the register or be at the Western Union counter. Now those individuals that frees them up to help build the business, while the consumer consistently could walk up to a kiosk to provide all of its banking services and in a quick, easy, simple to do fashion, and even more important, we discount our services compared to the traditional markets. So now it's even more cost effective to do so,

Brett 

Your approach seems to benefit both merchants and consumers by generating new revenue streams and enhancing customer loyalty. What strategies have you found most effective in achieving this balance?

Steve 

Well from a consumer perspective, we find that the most important reward, the most important reward programme is a cash-back. We evaluated everybody from the Gen X to the Gen Z's and all the way backwards and forwards. The one thing we found almost 100% of the time is everyone would rather have a cash-back value than some type of token t-shirt or gift. So, from our perspective, we wanted to build a programme that the consumer benefits from and benefits from on a cash-back basis immediately upon the transaction.

Brett

Just thinking about, and you touched on it earlier on, security, which is paramount in any form of financial service, especially to the consumer. What measures have you implemented to ensure that your PointsKash kiosk remains secure for both users and your merchant partners?

Steve

I’ll start at the foundation: we host our services on AWS, the same infrastructure used by major banking and government platforms, which brings substantial layers of built-in security. Beyond that, we use blockchain and our own internal security enhancements to facilitate transactions, whether they happen at the kiosk or on our digital platforms.

On the physical kiosk side, ensuring peace of mind is crucial. We don’t just offer a convenient service; we also verify the customer’s identity through robust KYC checks—things like thumb scans, facial recognition, and multiple ID input options. These measures are designed to protect both the consumer and our merchant partners. From a security standpoint, we believe we’ve gone above and beyond to guarantee everyone feels confident conducting financial transactions through our kiosks.

Brett 

What have been the key challenges to scaling your physical and digital infrastructure?

Steve 

When you look at the entire kiosk and ATM market, many of these businesses began as small “mom and pop” operations, growing gradually from a local base. We approached things differently: from day one, we planned to operate on a national and even global scale. We outsource key functions to industry leaders: Genmega, one of the largest kiosk manufacturers; a national group that handles the actual installation (meeting the machine on-site); Mako Networks, a nationwide firm that networks the kiosk; and Brinks for moving physical cash to and from each location. By relying on these specialized partners, we shorten our time to market and make installations much quicker and more cost-effective than if we employed our own staff. From the start, we set our business up to be scalable across multiple regions, rather than focusing on a single territory and expanding slowly.

Brett 

By installing your PointsKash Kiosk “in-store” you are helping drive footfall, right? 

Steve 

Absolutely. We recently signed an agreement with Discover to issue prepaid cards, so when you visit Discover’s site, you’ll see all the stores where our PointsKash kiosks are located, along with the option to obtain a Discover card. This setup helps drive traffic into those stores—once customers walk in, they rarely leave without buying something, especially when they’re saving money. As soon as they enter, we can prompt them to make a purchase, and we handle that through our app as well.

We also teamed up with the Digital Coupon Bureau to exchange coupons using our technology, which can detect when someone is in or even near one of our stores. We can then send digital coupons to draw them inside, and while they’re shopping, encourage additional purchases. For instance, if we know they like Coke, we can send them a coupon for a dollar off. We’ve incorporated these features to boost foot traffic and guide customers toward a purchase, providing a win-win for both the consumer and the store.

Brett

So I guess the big question at the end is, looking ahead, how do you see PointsKash shaping the future of payments and banking services, and what role will innovation play in your next growth phase?

Steve

Technology has made it possible for us to reach this point, and because innovation moves so quickly, I believe we’re going to see a major transformation in banking—from traditional brick-and-mortar branches to more kiosks. We’re already witnessing the industry shift in that direction, and what we’ve developed really paves the way for banks to make this change. Instead of needing physical locations, consumers can handle many tasks at quick, user-friendly kiosks. That’s the future we anticipate, and it’s the direction we are leading the market in.

Brett 

Thank you, Steve; what an amazing story so far! The complexities of integrating both software and physical technologies are evident. Clearly, your vision for PointsKash is dynamic and transformative for the industry. Once again, congratulations on the award.