FinTech News
TodayPay Emerges from Stealth at Money 20/20
A FinTech solution called TodayPay has launched from stealth mode, debuting at the Money 20/20 conference in Las Vegas.
About TodayPay:
Describing itself as a “Refunds as a Service” platform, TodayPay allows retailers to offer more refund options to consumers. As the company explains, their service separates refunds from returns — which they see as decoupling payment from a logistics problem. With TodayPay, consumers will not only be able to receive instant refunds but also choose from several redemption options. This stands in contrast to normal refunds, which typically only offer reversals of the original charge. TodayPay says that this improvement of the refund process can help increase conversion rates and loyalty as well as assist online retailers in avoiding chargeback disputes.
According to TodayPay, while operating in stealth, the company gained traction with merchants, investors, and Visa. Additionally, the company was recently named as a finalist in the Startup of the Year category for the US FinTech Awards (although the site for the awards seemingly bills them as “‘Stealth startup’ to be announced”). The winner of that award will be announced at a ceremony in New York City next month.
What they’re saying:
Announcing TodayPay and the inspiration behind the company, founder and CEO Jeremy Balkin stated, “Time is money. I built TodayPay because I’ve seen firsthand how the speed of a payment can change somebody’s life.” Balkin added, “There’s over a trillion dollars of value exchanged every year in the form of refunds, yet there’s been almost zero innovation improving the refund customer experience.”
Speaking further on the need for TodayPay, Balkin said, “Traditional refunds are monolithic, inflexible, and uncertain. Consumers often don’t realize their refund doesn’t actually go back in their bank account, and this broken process is no longer fit for purpose in the dynamic digital economy.” He concluded, “TodayPay is transforming the broken refund process, from where money goes to die, into an intelligent customer acquisition channel for merchants.”
My thoughts:
It looks as though TodayPay’s emergence from stealth comes with great hype. In their press release, they even include quotes from Visa, Amazon Web Services, Astra, Shippo, and more. Additionally, while I can’t speak to how prestigious the US FinTech Awards actually are, being able to secure a placeholder nomination seems impressive.
As for the product itself, while details are sparse, the concept is solid. After all, refunds (and returns) are a major pain point in online retail. Thus, anything that TodayPay can do to add ease to either side of the transaction is a good thing.
Following today’s announcement, don’t be surprised if we hear more about TodayPay soon.