VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - Sept. 9, 2014) - Local technology company nTrust today launches one of the first true digital cash platforms in Canada, Cloud Money™, bringing Canadians one step closer to eliminating the use of physical cash. With the launch of nTrust's new mobile app on iTunes and Google Play today, along with the announcement of their first official Cloud Money merchant, DougieDog, the company is making digital payments a reality.
"Cloud Money differs from an e-wallet or mobile payment platform by enabling consumers to pay merchants for goods and services directly and instantly with just a few taps on their phone, eliminating the need for payment processing terminals," explains Rod Hsu, CXO.
A true digital cash platform provides consumers and merchants with a secure and seamless cashless payment alternative. And the demand for this is clearly there; Canadians have adapted to cashless payments with 90% of transactions made with a credit card or digital alternative. According to the Mastercard Advisors report, Canada is "nearly cashless" with the population using cashless methods for low value payments over physical cash. "We can clearly see a demand for credit card alternatives and while there are digital methods of payment available, Cloud Money will be one of the first true digital cash platform that benefits both the consumer and merchant," says Hsu.
Popular Vancouver food truck DougieDog, whose success has led to features on Dragon's Den and Eat Street, has experienced the evolution of cashless payments first hand and has partnered with nTrust to offer customers the next iteration in digital payment methods.
Beyond elevating the consumer experience, nTrust's digital cash solution also has a huge impact on a merchant's profit margin. Low value transactions made by credit cards are costly for business like DougieDog whereas with nTrust, who offer a flat rate of 1% per transaction, business are able to save between 50 - 70% on transaction fees.
After piloting the platform at the Sunset Beach Social food truck festival, DougieDog noticed the immediate benefits that this platform provided for his customers. "Keeping my customers in mind is at the heart of DougieDog and nTrust enables me to take that to the next level," explains Dougie Luv, owner of DougieDog.
"Customers appreciated our team knowing their name or remembering details about their previous purchases," he continues. "It also helped us minimize wait times as customers simply swipe to pay on their smartphone removing the need for physical contact at the till point."
Understanding the value of targeted and relevant marketing, Dougie also found that being able to collect valuable transactional data on each customer helps him differentiate from competitors. He indicated that this enables him to better serve customers in the future and build better experiences.
nTrust plans to expand the merchant program throughout the year and just recently signed on the AMS Student Society of UBC, who will begin accepting Cloud Money™ later this fall.
The partnership has big benefits, according to Uli Laue, Director of Operations at the AMS Student Society of UBC, who explains, "As a student society we owe it to our members to seek out ways to improve their lives on campus; offering them an alternative to carrying cash is just one way we are doing that. In general students are early adopters of new technology, which is why we feel students will be excited for the opportunity to try the nTrust Cloud Money solution."
Consumers can download the free nTrust app from iTunes or Google Play and create a free nTrust Cloud. nTrust members with an nTrust Cloud will also be able to mange their funds completely online, as well as transfer money for free to friends or family members with an nTrust Cloud.
About nTrust
nTrust is a Vancouver-based technology company that developed the global platform Cloud Money™, a regulated and trusted digital cash system that allows members to spend, send and use their money as simply as sending a text. Once a member's Cloud is loaded, funds can be instantly exchanged to six currencies, used to pay bills or merchants, loaded to an nTrust Cloud Money™ Prepaid MasterCard® or conveniently sent to other members around the world. With 25% of all Cloud Money merchant transaction fees donated to local partner charities, Cloud Money also supports the local community. nTrust's proprietary technology uses the highest encryption standards and has Level One PCI-DSS rating and regulation by FINTRAC, Canada's financial intelligence unit.
To view the video associated with this press release, please visit the following link: https://www.ntrust.com/2014/09/09/introducing-the-brand-new-ntrust-app/.
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