Can Retail Locations Have An Impact On America’s Financial Services?

Photo By: Ngital

PointsKash CEO Michael Herron discusses the challenges facing underbanked Americans and why physical retail locations could play a greater role in the future of financial services.

Despite significant advances in banking technology, millions of Americans still face challenges accessing basic financial services. Mobile banking, digital payments and financial apps have made managing money easier, but they have not solved every problem, particularly for people who rely on cash or need services outside traditional banking hours.

Michael Herron, CEO and President of PointsKash, believes the financial technology industry has focused too heavily on improving digital banking for consumers who already have access to traditional financial services.

“Much of that innovation has been built around people who were already well served by the banking system,” Herron says.

He points out that being underbanked does not necessarily mean someone lacks a bank account. Many people still rely on separate providers to cash checks, send money and pay bills.

“Someone can have $200 in cash in their pocket and still have difficulty paying a bill that requires an electronic transaction. They have the money. The problem is getting it into the right form, at the right time, without unnecessary expense or inconvenience.”

This gap between physical cash and digital payments is the market PointsKash is looking to address.

Bringing Financial Services Into Retail

The company’s approach centres on providing financial services through kiosks placed in existing retail locations, including convenience stores, grocery stores, fuel stations and hotels.

Its KashPoint platform is designed to offer services such as cash access, money transfers, cryptocurrency transactions and loyalty-point conversion.

Herron believes these locations could provide consumers with more convenient access to financial services without requiring a visit to a bank or specialist provider.

He also sees an opportunity beyond traditionally underbanked consumers. Travellers, small-business owners and people with regular bank accounts may all need access to cash or other financial services during their daily routines.

For retailers, offering these services could create additional revenue opportunities and encourage customer visits.

However, building a successful network requires more than securing retail locations. Equipment, technology, financial partnerships, cash management and regulatory compliance all need to be in place.

PointsKash has developed three kiosk formats to serve different types of businesses. KashPoint Pro offers a broader range of services, KashPoint Lite provides a smaller cash-focused solution, and KashPoint Express is designed to connect cash with digital wallets through participating retail checkout systems.

The company has referenced an agreement with Choice Hotels, representing more than 7,500 US locations, as well as another commercial merchant opportunity involving approximately 11,000 convenience and fuel retail locations.

These figures represent potential distribution opportunities rather than thousands of active kiosk installations.

The Challenge of Scaling

Expanding a physical financial-services network presents challenges that digital-only fintech businesses do not necessarily face.

Machines must be installed and maintained, transactions must be processed reliably, and customers need support when problems arise. Companies must also manage regulatory requirements and relationships with financial partners.

“The biggest challenge is execution, and I don’t think there’s any way to sugarcoat that,” Herron says.

PointsKash has pursued acquisitions to help establish its operating infrastructure. The company acquired more than 2,100 cryptocurrency kiosks from Bitcoin Depot, which it intends to adapt for a wider range of financial services. It also acquired ChainBytes to strengthen its technology and software-development capabilities.

The equipment acquisition provides an existing hardware base, although the machines must still be recovered, refurbished and configured before they can be deployed.

PointsKash has said its initial Choice Hotels rollout is planned to begin with 300 KashPoint Pro kiosks in December 2026.

Herron says the company intends to expand in stages rather than move too quickly.

“Growth can actually hurt a business if the supporting infrastructure doesn’t keep pace,” he says.

The company’s ability to turn distribution agreements and acquired equipment into active, regularly used locations will be an important test of its strategy.

Measuring Real Impact

For Herron, the number of installed kiosks will not be the only measure of success.

PointsKash plans to monitor transaction volumes, repeat usage, revenue per location and equipment uptime. However, customer experience will also be important.

Are transactions easy to complete? Are fees clearly explained? Do customers return to use the services?

The company also hopes its physical kiosks will introduce customers to its PK Pay digital platform, creating a connection between in-person transactions and digital financial services.

Whether customers adopt multiple services remains to be seen.

Herron believes financial inclusion should be measured by practical results rather than marketing claims or installation numbers.

“The more meaningful question is whether we’ve made an everyday financial task easier for someone who previously had fewer convenient options,” he says.

A Changing Fintech Landscape

Looking ahead, Herron believes the relationship between financial technology and traditional retail businesses will become increasingly important.

Retailers already use technology for payments, loyalty programmes and customer engagement. Financial services could become another part of that offering.

However, the business case will depend on consumer demand, transaction costs and whether retailers see enough value to support the infrastructure.

For PointsKash, the challenge is to demonstrate that its combination of physical kiosks and digital financial services can become a sustainable business.

More broadly, the company’s strategy raises an important question for the fintech industry: after years of focusing on digital banking, could the next stage of financial innovation involve bringing technology back into the physical locations people use every day?

The answer will depend not on the number of agreements announced, but on whether these services prove useful, affordable and reliable for the customers they are intended to serve.