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<br /><ul><li><strong><keyword id="6557529" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="kreditbee" source="Orion">KreditBee</keyword> currently offers multiple types of personal loans and a digital gold investment product.<br /></strong></li><li><strong><keyword id="12085639" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="cashfree-payments" source="Orion">Cashfree Payments</keyword>’ merchants can offer this cardless <keyword id="6357050" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="emi" source="Orion">EMI</keyword> option to all eligible customers with the KreditBee app.<br /></strong></li><li><strong>Recently, India’s largest lender, SBI invested an undisclosed amount in Cashfree Payments. <br /></strong></li></ul>Indian fintech platform KreditBee today partnered with banking solutions company Cashfree Payments. Together, they will offer an option to convert online purchases into EMIs, at the time of checkout. <br /><br />KreditBee’s six million customers can avail the online checkout finance facility from Cashfree Payments’ 1.5 lakh merchant partners. That includes brands like <keyword id="6376684" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="nykaa" source="Orion">Nykaa</keyword>, EaseMyTrip, Livspace, Gonoise and Wakefit . <br /><br />"The increased push for digitalization in the past few months has indeed accelerated the shift to digital commerce and payments, in some cases replacing the retail and merchant experience altogether. The idea behind this collaboration is to let customers convert their online purchases, especially where ticket value is high, into hassle-free easy EMIs,” Madhusudan Ekambaram, co-founder &amp; CEO, KreditBee said. <br /><br />Cashfree Payments’ merchants can offer this cardless EMI option to all eligible customers with the KreditBee app. The checkout finance loans range from ₹2,400 to ₹2 lakhs with a tenure of 3-18 months. KreditBee currently offers personal loans and a digital gold investment product. <br /><br />“We aim to give the best of payments infrastructure to businesses and a seamless payment experience for their customers,” said Reeju Datta, co-founder, Cashfree Payments. <br /><br />Cashfree Payments works closely with banks to build the core payments and banking infrastructure. It is also integrated with platforms like Shopify, Wix, <keyword id="6357940" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="paypal" source="Orion">Paypal</keyword>, Amazon Pay, Paytm, and Google Pay. Recently, India’s largest lender, SBI invested an undisclosed amount in Cashfree Payments. <br /><br />Apart from India, Cashfree Payments products are used in eight other countries, including the USA, Canada, and UAE.<br />

KreditBee, Cashfree Payments offer option to convert online purchases into EMIs

<ul><li><strong>Tokenisation is nothing but giving your sensitive information a secret identity. <br /><br /></strong></li><li><strong>When you <keyword id="14220192" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="tokenise" source="Orion">tokenise</keyword> something, like a debit or <keyword id="6368202" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="credit-card" source="Orion">credit card</keyword>, you replace the actual details with a unique digital token. <br /><br /></strong></li><li><strong>To make it more convenient to the customers, <keyword id="30067" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="rbi" source="Orion">RBI</keyword> has recently announced card-on-file tokenisation or CoF.</strong></li></ul>Many of us would have seen Amitabh Bacchan on television telling us that by tokenising our cards we can make our online transactions more secure and alo get freed from the hassle of entering our card details every time we make a purchase. In fact, many websites will ask you to save your card details which you may not be comfortable with. Tokenisaiton is the answer. <br /><br />“Tokenisation simply refers to the replacement of actual card details with an alternate code called the 'token'. It is used for recurring payments or in cases where merchants have stored the card details for providing faster checkout experience,” says Rahul Jain, CFO, NTT DATA Payment Services India. <br /><br />RBI’s initiative on tokenisation is targeted towards the disablement of card storage at the payment service providers' and merchants' end to ensure better security.<br /><br />“Simply put, tokenisation is nothing but giving your sensitive information a secret identity. When you tokenise something, like a debit or credit card, you replace the actual details with a unique digital token, which is further used while making online transactions, making it secure,” says Gaurav Chopra, founder and CEO of IndiaLends, a digital lending marketplace. <br /><br /><strong>Steps to tokenise your card</strong> <br /><br />We will look at the steps to tokenise your card. <br /><br /><ol><li>To purchase any products or services and to initiate a transaction, a customer visits e-commerce or a merchant's website. Then select the preferred card options as the payment method and enter all the card details</li><li>In case the website wants the customer to store the card details for a faster checkout experience, there will be an option 'secure your card as per RBI guidelines'. A customer must opt for this option to securely generate a token and have it stored as per RBI guidelines</li><li>To complete the transaction, a customer will receive a one-time password (OTP) on the mobile device or email from the card issuer company.</li><li>Once the OTP is entered on the bank page, the card details are sent for token generation as well as transaction authorization</li><li>Generated token is sent back to the merchant, who then stores the token against the customer identification data eg; mobile number or email address</li><li>When a customer visits the same e-commerce or merchant website, the last four digits of the saved card are shown which helps them to recognize during the transaction. This means that a customer’s card has been tokenised.</li><li>A new token is generated for every merchant website where the card details are required to be stored.The token is now ready for use in subsequent recurring or express checkout payment transactions by consumers on the merchant platform. </li></ol><strong>Source: NTT DATA Payment Services India</strong><br /><br />When you tokemise your card, your card information is not stored by the merchant website. “The genuine payment details of the customer are securely stored by their bank in a protected token vault. Upon receiving the token from the credit card issuer and confirming its match with the account number, the bank verifies the transaction,” says Akash Sinha, CEO and co-founder, Cashfree Payments, a payments and banking platform. <br /><br /><strong>Card on file tokenisation</strong> <br /><br />“Meanwhile, to make it more convenient to the customers, RBI has recently announced that card-on-file tokenisation (CoF) can now be generated directly at the issuer bank level,” says Jain. This will allow users to generate tokens through their bank’s app or website. <br /><br />Currently, it is not mandatory to tokenise the cards. A customer can choose whether to or not to tokenise his/her card. A customer can continue to transact as before by entering card details manually at the time of initiating the transaction if he/she does not wish to create a token.<br />

Making online payments safer – Here’s how to tokenise your card

<keyword id="6359540" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="payments">Payments</keyword> and banking technology firm <keyword id="5908691" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Cashfree">Cashfree</keyword> on Tuesday announced a partnership with digital payments company <keyword id="6357940" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="paypal">PayPal</keyword> to enable international payments for merchants.<br /><br /><keyword id="6358610" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="businesses">Businesses</keyword> using Cashfree's payment gateway will be able to add the PayPal 'Express Checkout' option to their order pages and accept payments from over 350 million customers across 200 markets and in more than 28 currencies in a secure and seamless manner.<br /><br />"The new API integration allows merchants to enable payments using their existing PayPal business accounts and start accepting and collecting global payments in no time. Further, businesses benefit from the PayPal fraud prevention and seller protection tools," said Akash Sinha, CEO &amp; Co-founder of Cashfree.<br /><br />Cashfree said it does the foreign currency exchange automatically and the amount gets credited to businesses' accounts in Indian rupee.<br /><br />"Together with Cashfree, <keyword id="3658" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="India">India</keyword>n small businesses will be able to tap into our 350 plus million consumer base across 200 markets," said Ashish Tandon, Director, Channel Partners, PayPal India.<br /><br />Businesses partnering with Cashfree can activate One Touch payments that would let their customers stay logged in and check out with a couple of clicks.<br /><br />Cashfree, as a payment platform, offers businesses with international payment methods like Mastercardand Visa cards, <keyword id="91294" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="American-Express">American Express</keyword>, Diners Club along with PayPal. <br /><br />Currently, Cashfree supports over 100 payment modes for accepting domestic and international payments.<br /><br /><br /><strong>SEE ALSO:<br /><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/new-electricity-late-payment-surcharge-rules-announced-but-consumer-electricity-bills-may-not-decrease/articleshow/81286847.cms">New electricity late payment surcharge rules announced – but consumer electricity bills may not decrease</a><br /><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/how-to-check-allotment-status-of-heranba-industries-ipo/articleshow/81286739.cms">Heranba Industries IPO: Here is how to check share allotment status</a><br /></strong><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/thelife/personalities/news/meet-jay-chaudhry-the-man-who-studied-under-a-tree-in-himachal-to-become-one-of-the-worlds-top-billionaires-today/articleshow/81288884.cms"><strong>Meet Jay Chaudhry, the man who studied under a tree in Himachal to become one of the world’s top billionaires today</strong></a><br />

PayPal and Cashfree join hands to enable international payments across 200 markets

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) after conducting raids at multiple locations belonging to <keyword id="714947" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="payment-gateways" source="Orion">payment gateways</keyword> i.e <keyword id="6357120" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="paytm" source="Orion">Paytm</keyword> and PayU in connection with a case of Chinese Loan apps, asked Paytm to freeze certain amounts from a few Merchant IDs (MIDs).<br /><br />Sources said the raids were conducted in Mumbai, Delhi, Gurugram, Lucknow and <keyword id="6354925" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="kolkata" source="Orion">Kolkata</keyword>.<br /><br />The ED has not given any official comment on the matter.<br /><br />On September 3, raids were conducted at the premises belonging to online payments gateways including <keyword id="14887233" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="razorpay-pvt-ltd" source="Orion">Razorpay Pvt Ltd</keyword>, Cashfree Payments and <keyword id="14887232" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="paytm-payment-services-ltd" source="Orion">Paytm Payment Services Ltd</keyword>.<br /><br />A Paytm spokesperson said that as part of the ongoing investigations of a specific set of merchants, the ED has sought information regarding such merchants to whom we provide payment processing solutions.<br /><br />"These merchants are independent entities, and none of them are our group entities. We are, and will continue to, fully cooperate with the authorities, and all the directive actions are being duly complied with," said the Paytm spokesperson.<br /><br />The ED has instructed Paytm to freeze certain amounts from the Merchant IDs of a specific set of merchant entities (as mentioned by the ED in its press release).<br /><br />"None of the funds which have been instructed to be frozen belong to Paytm or any of our group companies. As we have mentioned before, ED continues to seek information about certain merchants from various payment service providers, and we have shared the required information," the Paytm spokesperson said.<br /><strong><br />What is the case?</strong><br /><br />The case is based on 18 FIRs registered by the Cyber Crime Police Station, Bengaluru City, against numerous persons for their involvement in extortion and harassment of the public who had availed small loans through the mobile apps being run by those entities.<br /><br />"During enquiries, it had emerged that these entities are operated by Chinese persons. The modus operandi of these entities is that by using forged documents of Indians and making them dummy directors of those entities, they are generating proceeds of crime," the ED said.<br /><br />The ED had said that it has come to its notice that the entities were conducting their suspected business through various Merchant IDs/Accounts held with Payment Gateways/banks.<br /><br />The premises of Razorpay Pvt Ltd, Cashfree Payments, Paytm Payment Services Ltd and entities controlled/operated by Chinese persons were covered in the search operations.<br /><br />"During the search operations, it was noticed that the said entities were generating proceeds of crime through various Merchant IDs/Accounts held with Payment Gateways/banks and they are also not operating from the addresses given on the <keyword id="6355225" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="mca" source="Orion">MCA</keyword> website/registered address and having fake addresses. An amount of Rs 17 crore has been seized in merchant IDs and bank accounts of these Chinese persons-controlled entities," the ED official had said.<br /><br />Meanwhile, a Razorpay spokesperson had said "Some of our merchants were being investigated by law enforcement about a year and a half back. As part of the ongoing investigation, the authorities requested additional information to help with the investigation. We have fully cooperated and shared <keyword id="167905" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="kyc" source="Orion">KYC</keyword> and other details. The authorities were satisfied by our due diligence process."<br /><br />The search operations are in progress.<br /><br /><strong>SEE ALSO :<br /><br /><a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/health/news/weight-gain-during-the-pandemic-is-increasing-the-incidence-of-pcos-in-women/articleshow/94202794.cms">Weight gain during the pandemic is increasing the incidence of PCOS in women</a><br /><br /></strong><a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/indias-top-75-brands-are-worth-393-billion-thats-11-of-indias-gdp/articleshow/94203813.cms"><strong>TCS is India's most valuable brand worth $45.5 billion: Kantar</strong></a>

ED asks Paytm to freeze certain amounts from few merchant IDs after raids (Ld)

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd"><html><body><p class="p1"><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div>Imagine a world where you would never think about withdrawing cash from an ATM. You'd never stand in line to buy a train ticket, or wait for a cashier to ring up items at your favorite store.</p><p class="p1">Today, digital-payments technology is transforming our daily lives. But according to MasterCard's chief emerging payments officer, Ed McLaughlin, making payments easier isn't about buying the things you want. It's about <em style="line-height: 1.5em;">doing</em> the things you want, whether that's paying for your groceries if you've left your wallet at home, or sending money to loved ones overseas.</p><p>On the eve of <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/category/mobile-world-congress">Mobile World Congress 2015</a>, BI Studios spoke with McLaughlin about why digital payments are so secure, what's involved in pushing the industry toward the global standard of EMV (Europay, MasterCard, and Visa) technology, and whether he thinks cash could become obsolete.</p><p class="p1"><strong>Tell me a little about your role at MasterCard.</strong></p><p class="p1">I joined MasterCard almost 10 years ago. Most of my career before then was with technology startups like Logicworks and PayTrust. I've previously held global product roles at MasterCard and now I'm the chief emerging payments officer. I manage all the ways that people use their MasterCard to make payments that aren't based on plastic, including EMV technology, contactless payments, and one-touch online checkout tools like MasterPass. </p><p class="p1"><strong>What will MasterCard's focus be at this year's Mobile World Congress?</strong></p><p class="p1">The theme we've chosen for Mobile World Congress is <a href="http://newsroom.mastercard.com/news-briefs/mastercard-and-mwc15-connecting-you-to-whats-next/" target="_blank">"Connecting You to What's Next."</a> At MasterCard we're working on connecting consumers to new ways to shop and buy. We believe that every connected device you have will become a commerce device. So we will talk about not only how you can use your phone to make a payment, but with things like MasterPass, everything you own - from your connected car to your game system to your smart home - can all be commerce-enabled. It's about giving consumers more and more convenient ways to shop and access their accounts.</p><p class="p1"><strong style="line-height: 1.5em;">How do you feel emerging payments will affect our everyday lives?</strong></p><p class="p1">I think what's forgotten is that people aren't always trying to make a payment. They payment is a byproduct of them trying to do something else. And what motivates all of us and what drives these big shifts in behavior is when you can make things fundamentally better. If you've ever had to scramble around to find a ticket or go to the kiosk while your train is pulling into the station, the ability to buy your ticket right from your mobile phone with one touch is just better. </p><p>But I think what's probably even more inspiring is all the work we're doing around financial inclusion. Now we can use <a href="http://newsroom.mastercard.com/news-briefs/innovation-at-mastercard/" target="_blank">mobile and technology</a> to reach and help people in ways we never could before. For example, we have a joint venture with BICS and eServeGlobal called <a href="https://www.homesend.com/" target="_blank">HomeSend</a>, which allows people to easily receive money from overseas into their mobile money account. We're working with industry leaders like EcoCash in Zimbabwe that allows people to receive money into a MasterCard mobile account and in turn use a companion card at an ATM or merchant. People who have been cut off from the entire digital world can now have the same access you and I have.</p><p class="p1"><strong>Apple Pay boasts a physical hardware component, which supposedly makes it more secure. But existing near field communication (NFC) platforms like MasterPass, LoopPay and PayPal have always stressed security. Does the future of contactless payments depend on having physical hardware?</strong></p><p class="p1">One of the foundational principles we have at MasterCard is that we are working to make digital transactions as or more secure than anything we could ever do before in the physical world. We always say that the way to make transactions and data truly safe is to make them useless if they're used out of context. Apple Pay features MasterCard's digital enabling system - our token engine that provides a unique credential that's bound to that handset as well as a unique key (found in EMV technology) that's used to sign every transaction. So now, every transaction becomes a one-time transaction.</p><p>It's really the combination of that secure token as well as the EMV-like cryptology we're using to sign each transaction that makes it so profoundly secure. It's important to ensure that whatever the container that holds the token - whether that's embedded on a chip in the handset or if it's stored and accessed remotely - is secure.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div></p><p><strong>With the Target and Home Depot breaches last year, there was an expedited push for credit cards to move from mag striped to EMV chips. Why has the industry been lagging behind in the US from a security standpoint?</strong></p><p>We had been pushing hard for the highest level of security possible well before the Target breach. I think when it happened, in some ways it helped everyone recognize that this is what we had been talking about and why we were saying it was so important. The first big step we took for EMV security was actually in April of 2013 when we certified that all of the acquirers and all the systems that supported transactions in the U.S. were ready for EMV. The next big step will be in October of this year where we'll have what's called a Liability Shift, and this will benefit those who invest in more secure systems.</p><p class="p1">Merchants who invest in EMV terminals - what we call a world terminal - aren't liable for anything that happens in that transaction. When a bank invests in putting a chip on the card and a breach happens with a merchant that hasn't upgraded, the merchant is going to bear the liability for that transaction. The Target breach provided a little bit of a catalyst in the market, but we already set those plans out well in advance.</p><p class="p1"><strong>Earlier you mentioned that MasterCard plans to transform all connected devices into commerce devices. How do you envision that happening?</strong></p><p class="p1">Consumers are adopting more and more devices based on how they fit into their lifestyle, and there will be different ways to engage based on that. For example, when I do all my travel planning on my PC at work, I choose to click the MasterPass button to check out easily. When I'm on transit to London, I may tap my phone for a genuine MasterCard transaction to get on the tube. When I get home I might want to order immediate content through my smart TV.</p><p class="p1">It goes a step further when you think about the Internet of Things and connected devices. Eventually I can tell my home heating system, when it's low on fuel, to reorder and just send me an alert after. As systems get more and more intelligent, people will weave them into their lives and use them for a variety of things they're already doing.</p><p class="p1"><strong>Do you think that cash will eventually become obsolete?</strong></p><p class="p1">We still live in a world where nearly 85% of transactions are still made in cash. Because things are so much better and more convenient when you move to digital, we'll see it displace cash more and more. You see countries like the Nordics on the verge of being a cash-free society, and then markets like Japan where cash is still huge.</p><p class="p1">I think the world will move to digital, but it's going to take a long time for that to happen. People even ask me when credit cards will go away, and I think the answer is always when the last person wants one. What you see over time is that people are constantly optimizing and finding what works best for them. But in a world that's 85% cash, there's just so much upside with what we can do through both digital transformation and financial inclusion to make things better. </p><p class="p1"><strong>What do you predict is next for emerging payments?</strong></p><p class="p1">I think how merchants sell things will continue to change. The idea of having a clerk guard a cash drawer in case someone shows up with cash, rather than be out there answering my questions and helping me shop, will hopefully look archaic.</p><p class="p1">The store of the future may look more like the cashless cabin on your favorite airline. If I see the thing I want and I'm holding it in my hand and the clerk asks if I would like to buy it right there, then I can. That personal interaction will be improved. So it's not that digital becomes colder and more abstract, but instead you actually free people up for better interactions. I think that's the real promise of going digital and how we can make shopping frictionless. In the future I could easily see myself standing in the aisle of a store. I'll say, "I really want that," touch a button on my smartphone, and it's shipped to my house. It's never about the payment. It's about making the thing you're trying to do that much easier.</p><p></p><p class="p1"><em>This post is sponsored by <a href="http://www.mastercard.us/" target="_blank">MasterCard</a>.</em></p><p class="p1"><span>Find out </span><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/sponsor-posts">more about Sponsored Content</a></p></body></html>

The future of mobile payments: Are we heading toward a cashless society?

Mumbai: Food delivery company <keyword id="19901323" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="Zomato" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Zomato" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Zomato">Zomato</keyword> has completed the <keyword id="19901090" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="acquisition" source="keywords">acquisition</keyword> of <keyword id="19898109" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Paytm" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Paytm" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Paytm">Paytm</keyword> subsidiaries WEPL and OTPL for the <keyword id="19922574" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="entertainment" source="keywords">entertainment</keyword> <keyword id="20028334" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="ticketing" source="keywords">ticketing</keyword> business, the company said in its filing with the exchanges.<br /><br />On August 21, the Deepinder Goyal-led company entered into definitive agreements for the acquisition of Paytm's entertainment arms.<br /><br />In its stock exchange filing on August 21, Noida-based Paytm had also confirmed the development.<br /><br />The deal, valued at Rs 2,048 crores on a cash-free, debt-free basis, stands "as a testament to the value" Paytm has created through its entertainment ticketing business, bringing choice and convenience to millions of Indians with its services and scale, the company said in a release filed with exchanges.<br /><br />As part of this agreement, OCL will transfer its entertainment ticketing business to Zomato by transferring OCL's entertainment ticketing business to its 100 per cent subsidiaries, Orbgen Technologies Pvt Limited (OTPL) and Wasteland Entertainment Pvt Ltd (WEPL) and selling a 100 per cent stake in its subsidiaries OTPL and WEPL, which operate the TicketNew and Insider platforms, respectively to Zomato.<br /><br />As per the information provided by the fintech, about 280 existing employees from the entertainment ticketing business will be part of Zomato.<br /><br />Paytm had said that the company wants to focus on the payments and financial services distribution segment.<br /><br />During a transition period (up to 12 months), the movie and event tickets will continue to be available on the Paytm app, as well as on the TicketNew and Insider platforms, ensuring a smooth and uninterrupted experience for users and merchant partners.<br /><br />As per Paytm, the company built movie ticketing from the ground up and acquired TicketNew and Insider for a total consideration of Rs 268 crores from 2017 to 2018. Further, additional investments were also made to scale up the business.<br /><br />On Wednesday, after the announcement, the stocks of Zomato opened in green at Rs 256.20. The company in the past six months has delivered a 60 per cent reward to its shareholders. (ANI)<br /><br />

Zomato completes acquisition of Paytm's entertainment and ticketing business

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"></div></div></div></p><ul class="summary-list"><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/san-francisco">San Francisco's</a> "<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/cashless">cashless</a>" stores are cashless no more.</li><li><a href="https://sf.curbed.com/2019/5/8/18536575/san-francisco-cashless-store-ban-vallie-brown-amazon">The city recently placed a ban </a>on cashless businesses after it decided that only accepting electronic payment methods and not cash discriminates against customers, including lower-income residents, who do not have bank accounts or credit cards.</li><li>Now cashless stores, like <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/amazon">Amazon's</a> high-tech Go stores, are required to accept payment in the form of cash in San Francisco.</li><li>Shopping at an <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/amazon-go">Amazon Go</a> promises a cash-free, in-and-out experience with minimal human interaction by entering and paying through an app on a smartphone.</li><li>You can still use the app to shop at an Amazon Go in San Francisco, but now the company has rolled out a way for customers to pay in cash, even though the stores aren't outfitted with checkout counters or dedicated cashiers.</li><li>We visited an Amazon Go in San Francisco to see how smoothly the process would go and ended up spending 10 minutes trying to pay for a $1 can of Sprite with cash.</li><li>An Amazon spokesperson told Business Insider in an email that "we're new at accepting cash, and since our stores weren't designed around this payment method, we're learning and testing as we go."</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/?hprecirc-bullet">Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.</a></li></ul><p class="tagline"><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/intelligence/40-big-tech-predictions-for-2019?IR=T&amp;itm_source=businessinsider&amp;itm_medium=ctgr_bii&amp;itm_term=ctgr_leadgen&amp;itm_content=amazon&amp;itm_campaign=40-big-tech-predictions-for-2019-3"></a></p>

We tried to pay $1 in cash for a soda at Amazon's cashier-less convenience store of the future, and it took way longer than expected

<ul class="summary-list"><li>A new lawsuit claims that <keyword id="319716" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Chipotle">Chipotle</keyword> is refusing to offer some customers proper change, resulting in the "loss of hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars." </li><li>Chipotle recently rolled out a new policy "to only accept exact change or other non-cash forms of payment" in locations that are low on change due to the national <keyword id="821061" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Coin-shortage">coin shortage</keyword>. </li><li>"While the pandemic is affecting all of us, that doesn't give Chipotle the license to line its own pockets at the expense of its customers," said attorney Frank Salpietro, who is representing the plaintiffs in the case. </li></ul><p>Chipotle is facing a lawsuit after rolling out a new exact change policy due to a coin shortage that has hit the US. The policy asks customers to pay with exact change or via non-cash methods at affected restaurants.</p><p>But a class action lawsuit filed on Thursday in a Pennsylvania court alleges Chipotle has been refusing and failing to provide proper change to customers paying with cash. </p><p>In one instance listed in the complaint, a customer paid for a $15.51 meal using a $20 bill. The customer only received $4 in change, with the employee not offering any change in coins.</p><p>"The 'company policy' and refusal of Defendant Chipotle to provide either change or a credit to consumers is believed and therefore averred to have resulted in the loss of hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars, to the detriment of Pennsylvania consumers and to the benefit of Defendant Chipotle," the complaint reads. </p><p>Chipotle's Chief Corporate Affairs and Food Safety Officer Laurie Schalow said in a statement to Business Insider that the company encourages "customers to contact us immediately with any concerns so we can investigate and respond quickly to make things right." </p><p>"If a restaurant is low on change as a result of the nationwide coin shortage, our policy is to only accept exact change or other non-cash forms of payment," Schalow said. "Restaurants that are impacted have signage posted on the door as well as inside, and employees have been instructed to alert guests prior to ordering." </p><p>However, attorney Frank Salpietro — who is representing the plaintiffs in the case — said that Chipotle's explanation "does not reflect what is actually happening in Pennsylvania."</p><p>"While the pandemic is affecting all of us, that doesn't give Chipotle the license to line its own pockets at the expense of its customers," Salpietro said in an email to Business Insider. "Telling someone you are going to steal their money doesn't get you off the hook for actually stealing it." </p><p>A number of restaurants have shifted to a cash-free model during the pandemic, both to promote safety and as locations experience coin shortages. Some locations are even <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/chick-fil-a-asks-for-coins-exchange-for-free-food-2020-7">offering customers free food in exchange for coins. </a></p><p>Some customers have complained about Chipotle's new policy on social media. </p><p>This isn't the first time Chipotle has faced backlash over its change policies. Up until 2012, the chain would <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/chipotle-will-not-be-secretly-adding-pennies-to-customers-orders-anymore-2012-8">round up orders to the nearest five-cent figure,</a> to avoid making cashiers dole out pennies. The practice was intended to speed up Chipotle's lines. However, after backlash, the chain began rounding down — saving customers a few pennies. </p>

A new lawsuit says Chipotle's exact change policy has led to customers losing 'hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars' amid a national coin shortage

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>AP/Elaine Thompson</span></p><p class="caption">Amazon Go</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul><li><strong>Companies like <a href="http://markets.businessinsider.com/stock/SBUX-Quote" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Starbucks</a> and <a href="http://markets.businessinsider.com/stock/AMZN-Quote" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Amazon</a> are testing stores that do not accept cash. </strong></li><li><strong>Going cashless can provide key advantages for retailers, such as boosting efficiency and preventing robberies. </strong></li><li><strong>However, for the 7% of Americans without a bank account, a cashless society would mean complete exclusion. </strong></li></ul><p><br />The US could be on its way to a cash-free economy.</p><p>And, while going cashless has some distinct upsides in the tech-obsessed world of <keyword id="6354851" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="Retail">retail</keyword>, it could be a dangerous development for some of the country's most vulnerable people. </p><p>This week, Amazon finally opened the doors of its futuristic grocery store, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-go-store-opens-no-checkout-lines-photos-2018-1">Amazon Go</a>, in Seattle. The cash-free store allows customers to simply walk out without paying at a cash register, with the proper money simply being charged to their Amazon account. </p><p>Amazon isn't the only company experimenting with cashless. The popular salad chain <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/sweetgreen-goes-cashless-2016-12">Sweetgreen</a> announced it was going completely cash-free in late 2016, and Starbucks recently opened a cashless store in Seattle. </p><p>"Mobile payment in the U.S. has grown to over 30% of total tender," Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson said in a call with investors on Thursday. "The ubiquity of mobile and credit card payment is enabling us to begin an exploration of cashless stores in the US."</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span><a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2015/11/02/chipotle-mexican-grill-inc-just-made-a-game-changi.aspx">Starbucks, via The Motley Fool</a></span></p><p class="caption">Starbucks mobile order and pay.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>Maya Mikhailov, the CMO of retail app developer GPShopper, told Business Insider that quick-service restaurants and other chains, such as Sweetgreen and Starbucks, are set to lead the way in the revolution against cash. Going cashless can speed up service, dissuade theft, and allow companies to gather more information on shoppers by linking them to digital loyalty programs. </p><p><a href="https://retail.emarketer.com/article/consumers-ready-go-cashless/5a66516cebd40008bc79120f?ecid=NL1014">Roughly 75% of respondents </a>in an online poll conducted by CivicScience in January said that a restaurant going cashless would either not impact how often they visited, or convince them to visit more. Only 15% said they would stop going to the restaurant if it no longer accepted cash. </p><p>However, part of that 15% is a proportion of Americans who simply can't shop somewhere if it stops accepting cash. </p><p>As of 2015,<a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/ranks-of-the-unbanked-decline-fdic-survey-finds-1473307140"> 7% of Americans were "unbanked,"</a> or did not have a bank account. That's roughly 22 million people that companies that go cashless completely exclude as customers. </p><p>Most people who don't have bank accounts don't do so by choice. It's because they lack the funds to do so, resulting in a vicious cycle in which not having a bank account has consequences - such as not being able to build credit - that result in making life more expensive. </p><p>The implications what going cashless could mean for the poor is emerging as an international conundrum, as the movement against cash catches on across the globe.  </p><p>"Billions of poor people in the developing world depend on cash to buy goods for very small amounts, often mere cents,"  Srinivasan Sivabalan <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-07-17/going-cashless-bad-for-tax-cheats-privacy-poor-quicktake-q-a">wrote in Bloomberg.</a> "It may be too costly to host those transactions on a network. That could create a second-class citizenry of people who don't have equal access to banking services."</p><p>"The beauty of cash is that it's a direct and simple transaction between all kinds of different people, no matter how rich or poor," financial writer Dominic Frisby <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2017/jan/09/rise-cashless-city-contactless-payments-exclusion-cashfree-society">told The Guardian.</a> "If you begin to insist on cashlessness, it does put pressure on you to be banked and signed up to financial system, and many of the poorest are likely to remain outside of that system. So there is this real danger of exclusion."</p><p>Mikhailov is more optimistic, pointing out that the percentage of the US that is unbanked is declining. What's more, she said that the rise of cashlessness will force companies to find solutions for the unbanked.</p><p>Fintech startups are already attempting to address unbanked communities in developing countries. With cashless retailers on the rise, the opportunity to find fixes for unbanked Americans also grows.</p><p>In fact, it could be a necessity if the US wants to protect its most vulnerable residents. If someone doesn't address the needs of unbanked Americans as retailers experiment with cash-free locations, millions could be left behind in a second-class shadow economy, using cash as the rest of the country goes digital. </p><p class="tagline"><div id="categorypromo" style="border:1px solid silver; min-height:90px; padding:10px;vertical-align:top;"><a href="http://read.bi/retail-2018"></a><strong>EXCLUSIVE FREE SLIDE DECK:</strong><br>The Future of Retail 2018 by the BI Intelligence Research Team.<br><strong><a href="http://read.bi/retail-2018">Get the Slide Deck Now »</a></strong></br></br></div></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-go-grocery-walk-out-technology-store-phone-app-no-lines-cashiers-2016-12">Take a look inside Amazon's grocery store of the future - there are no cashiers, registers or lines</a></h3>        <div>                    </div>    </div>

Companies like Amazon and Starbucks want to kill cash - and it could be a huge blow to the most vulnerable Americans

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Getty/Stephen Brashear</span></p><p class="caption">Amazon Go.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul class="summary-list"><li><strong><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/amazon">Amazon</a> opened its first cashierless store, Amazon Go, in New York on Tuesday.</strong></li><li><strong>This is also the first Amazon Go store that will also allow customers to pay in cash.</strong></li><li><strong>The retailer faced backlash for its entirely cash-free stores, which critics said discriminated against customers who don't have a bank account.</strong></li></ul><p>Amazon Go opened its doors to New York shoppers for the first time on Tuesday. And just like its 11 other locations across the US, this checkout free, (supposedly) line-free store promises to provide a speedy shopping experience that caters nicely to a busy New Yorker's schedule.</p><p>But there's one major difference at this location: shoppers will also be able to pay in cash - exactly the opposite to what Amazon set out to do with these stores.</p><h2>Bringing back cash</h2><p>The decision to bring cash payments to these cash free stores came after the company faced backlash from critics who said Amazon Go discriminated against customers who don't have bank accounts.</p><p>Critics say that cashless stores exclude millions of potential customers who do not have a bank account. 8.4 million households, or roughly 6.5% of all households in America, were "unbanked" in 2017, <a href="https://www.fdic.gov/householdsurvey/">according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation</a>.</p><p>Because of this, some states and cities have also considered banning cashless stores. Massachusetts, Philadelphia, and New Jersey require stores to accept cash payment, and New York City and San Francisco are considering similar measures.</p><p>In April, Amazon told <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/10/amazon-exec-tells-employees-that-go-stores-will-start-accepting-cash.html?__source=twitter%7Cmain">CNBC</a> that it would be looking to add "additional payment mechanisms" to its stores in the future. A spokesperson later confirmed to Business Insider that this would include cash.</p><p><em><strong>Read more:</strong> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-to-start-accepting-cash-at-amazon-go-2019-4?r=US&amp;IR=T">Amazon plans to start accepting cash at Amazon Go stores after reported accusations of 'discrimination and elitism' and new laws banning cashless stores</a></em></p><p>In the past, customers have only been able to enter an Amazon Go store by scanning the app, which is linked to a credit card or an Amazon account. But at the New York location, an Amazon employee will swipe in customers who want to pay by cash, and scan any items with a mobile device to check them out.</p><p>The customer will be able to shop the store and then go to the checkout cart to pay with cash and get a receipt before leaving with their purchased items, a spokesperson for Amazon told Business Insider. There will still be no cash registers at the store, however.</p><p>The new store will offer a mix of ready-to-eat meals and snacks, which are made by Amazon and local kitchens and bakeries including Dominique Ansel, Magnolia Bakery, and Hale &amp; Hearty. Customers will also be able to pick up Amazon's Meal Kits.</p><p>This the 12th Amazon Go store to open and the first of its kind in New York.</p><p class="tagline"><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/intelligence/5-biggest-questions-around-amazons-new-grocery-chain?IR=T&amp;itm_source=businessinsider&amp;itm_medium=ctgr_bii&amp;itm_term=ctgr_leadgen&amp;itm_content=ecommerce&amp;itm_campaign=5-biggest-questions-around-amazons-new-grocery-chain"></a></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/samsung-galaxy-fold-smartphone-foldable-unboxing-2019-4">We unboxed the $1,980 Samsung Galaxy Fold - here's what comes inside</a></h3>        <div>                    </div>    </div>

Amazon opened its first cashierless store in New York, but customers can still pay in cash after a backlash

<p><strong><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Reuters</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></strong></p><ul><li><strong>Starbucks is adjusting to Chinese customers who are far more digital than American customers. </strong></li><li><strong>Growth is taking off in China with a new store opening every 15 hours. </strong></li><li><strong><a href="http://markets.businessinsider.com/stocks/sbux-stock">Watch Starbucks trade in real-time here.</a></strong></li></ul><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/starbucks-reserve-roastery-shanghai-china-is-worlds-biggest-2018-4">Starbucks</a> in China may be more futuristic than what most Americans expect. </p><p>"We were struck by how different the Chinese consumer experience is from the US," Jefferies analyst Andy Barish wrote in a note to clients. "Almost all digital needs - social, chat, transport, ecommerce - are consolidated within just a few apps."</p><p>In the United States, some still argue that "cash is king," and parts of the country will have pockets of cash-only businesses. In China, cash is a relic of the past. Alipay and WeChat run the market, supporting purchases from street-food vendors to utility payments. As a result, Starbucks will be upping its game to court these highly digitized customers.</p><p>With 80% of <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/starbucks-adds-alipay-in-china-2017-9">Starbucks transactions in China being cash-free</a>, the company now has an extra 30 labor hours a week to put towards customer engagement, Barish wrote. It is also pushing more<a href="https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180515006821/en/Starbucks-First-Ever-China-Investor-Conference-Highlights-Accelerated"> interactive marketing </a>in China with social gifting on WeChat and augmented reality features in stores. The My Starbucks Rewards program has also been a hit in the country with 7 million people paying to be a member and around 90% app usage, he wrote. The next step will be rolling out delivery and mobile order and pay according to Barish. </p><p>As emphasized over and over again in the company's second-quarter earnings, <a href="http://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/starbucks-stock-price-china-business-2018-4-1022553813">dominating China</a> will be key to the coffee chain's long-term strategy. The US market is slowing a bit as evidenced by the 2% comparable sales growth in the last quarter compared to the 4% comparable sales in China. The opportunities will be significant as the <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/retail/our-insights/mapping-chinas-middle-class">country's middle class continues to grow rapidly</a>. </p><p>The coffee chain found success in the country by investing in its people and working hard to understand the culture, Barish wrote. Already, a new store opens every 15 hours. By fiscal year 2022, Starbucks intends to up its store count in China to 6,000 from its current 3,300. </p><p>Starbucks is down about 1% this year. </p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span><a href="http://markets.businessinsider.com/stocks/sbux-stock">Markets Insider</a></span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p class="tagline"><div id="categorypromo"><p><h2><span>Learn more:</span></h2><ul><li><a href="http://read.bi/pay1">Credit Card Industry and Market</a></li><li><a href="http://read.bi/pay2">Mobile Payment Technologies</a></li><li><a href="http://read.bi/pay3">Mobile Payments Industry</a></li><li><a href="http://read.bi/pay4">Mobile Payment Market, Trends and Adoption</a></li><li><a href="http://read.bi/pay5">Credit Card Processing Industry</a></li><li><a href="http://read.bi/pay6">List of Credit Card Processing Companies</a></li><li><a href="http://read.bi/pay7">List of Credit Card Processing Networks</a></li><li><a href="http://read.bi/pay8">List of Payment Gateway Providers</a></li><li><a href="http://read.bi/pay9">M-Commerce: Mobile Shopping Trends</a></li><li><a href="http://read.bi/pay10">E-Commerce Payment Technologies and Trends</a></li></ul></p></div></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/jeff-bezos-breaking-up-regulating-amazon-2018-4">Jeff Bezos on breaking up and regulating Amazon</a></h3>        <div>                    </div>    </div>

The Starbucks experience in China is way different than in the US

<p><strong><em>Welcome to <keyword id="9884466" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="insider-cannabis">Insider Cannabis</keyword>, our weekly newsletter where we're bringing you an inside look at the deals, trends, and personalities driving the multibillion-dollar global <keyword id="14728" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="100" keywordseo="cannabis">cannabis</keyword> boom.</em></strong></p><p><strong><em><a href="http://newsletter.businessinsider.com/join/cultivated">Sign up here to get it in your inbox every week</a>.</em></strong></p><p>Happy Friday readers,</p><p>Earnings were the dominant story in the industry this week. A slew of US cannabis companies, or MSOs, posted rock-solid financial results, in many cases outpacing their Canadian counterparts.</p><p>I asked Cresco Labs CEO Charlie Bachtell about why he thinks that is. In Bachtell's view, it's a convergence of factors: COVID — and the essential designation cannabis dispensaries received in some legal states helped — but he said it also has to do with the expanded <keyword id="40905" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Marijuana">marijuana</keyword> supply from cap-ex projects many companies began in 2019 and have since completed.</p><p>"Those wheels have been in motion for some time," Bachtell told me. "We were going to have a strong quarter regardless of COVID."</p><p>He also pointed out that in Cresco's home state of Illinois, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot was able to avoid laying off 350 city employees thanks to tax revenues from legal marijuana sales. That, he said, is great motivation for other states to pass legalization.</p><p>"That's found money," he said. "Just dropped from the sky — it wasn't a revenue source the year before."</p><p>Beyond earnings, I moderated panels at CWCBExpo and Prohibition Live. If you caught those, let me know what you thought.</p><p><em>-Jeremy</em></p><p><strong><em>Here's what we wrote about this week:</em></strong></p><h3><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/new-jobs-states-legalized-cannabis-arizona-new-jersey-2020-11"><strong>The spread of legal cannabis is projected to create more than 20,000 jobs in the next 5 years. Here's a look at how many roles are expected to be open for hiring in each state.</strong></a></h3><p>The cannabis industry is expected to hire for tens of thousands of new positions in the coming years as new programs in five different states roll out, according to data from the cannabis recruitment platform Vangst. In New Jersey, which recently voted to legalize recreational cannabis, more than 19,000 jobs could be created by 2025.</p><h3><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/canopy-growth-strategy-enter-us-cannabis-market-after-biden-win-2020-11"><strong>The world's largest cannabis company is angling to jump into the US marijuana market after Biden's win</strong></a></h3><p>Canadian cannabis giant Canopy Growth is positioning to enter the lucrative US market after Joe Biden won the US presidency. Canopy CEO David Klein told BI in an interview that the company is looking to bring more of its branding and IP over to the US through its partnership with Acreage Holdings. </p><h3><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/incoming-curaleaf-ceo-potential-of-new-york-marijuana-market-2020-11"><strong>The incoming CEO of the largest US cannabis company explains why he's going all in on New York and the Northeast</strong></a></h3><p>Joseph Bayern, who will be stepping into the role of CEO at cannabis giant Curaleaf starting in January, told Business Insider that he's bullish on the Northeast, now that New Jersey's legalized cannabis for adult-use. New York could be "could be one of the most compelling markets in the US in the next couple of years," Bayern said.</p><h3><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/kevin-oleary-investing-why-betting-big-psychedelics-medicine-2020-11">Kevin O'Leary of 'Shark Tank': Why I'm betting big on psychedelics, and how investors should be thinking about this opportunity</a></h3><p>In this op-ed article, the "Shark Tank" investor Kevin O'Leary explains why he and other Wall Street investors are betting big on psychedelic mushrooms. Investors who were burned by bad bets on cannabis startups shouldn't be afraid to gamble this time, O'Leary says. <keyword id="2874738" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Psychedelics">Psychedelics</keyword> look different — in a good way — and the pitfalls that befell early cannabis investors aren't likely.</p><h2>Earnings roundup</h2><p>Lots of the large multistate operators reported strong earnings this week. Here are the highlights:</p><ul><li><a href="https://investors.trulieve.com/news-releases/news-release-details/trulieve-achieves-record-third-quarter-results-enters-6th-state">Trulieve</a> reported $136.3 million in revenue, a 13% sequential increase. </li><li><a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/curaleaf-reports-record-third-quarter-2020-financial-and-operational-results-301174971.html">Curaleaf</a> reported a $9.3 million net loss on $193.2 million in managed revenue. </li><li><a href="https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20201118005418/en/Cresco-Labs-Announces-Record-Revenue-of-153.3-Million-Growth-of-59-Million-or-63-QoQ-and-Adjusted-EBITDA1-of-46.4-Million">Cresco Labs</a> reported $153.3 million in revenue and $4.9 million in net income. </li><li><a href="https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2020/11/18/2129626/0/en/Ayr-Strategies-Reports-Third-Quarter-2020-Results-Updates-Investors-on-2021-Expansion-Initiatives.html">Ayr Strategies</a> reports $45.4 million in revenue, up 61% sequentially.</li><li><a href="https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/terrascend-reports-record-third-quarter-2020-net-sales-of-51-million-and-adjusted-ebitda-1-of-17-8-million-860046415.html#:~:text=(%22TerrAscend%22%20or%20the%20%22,quarter%20ending%20September%2030%2C%202020.&amp;text=Net%20sales%20of%20%2451%20million%20in%20Q3%202020%20compared%20to,%2435%20million%20in%20Q1%202020.020.">TerrAscend</a> reports $51 million in sales, a 90% increase year-over-year. </li><li><a href="https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2020/11/17/2127897/0/en/Greenlane-Reports-Record-Core-Business-Revenue-in-Q3-2020.html">Greenlane Holdings</a> reports $32.3 million in core revenue (non-tobacco), and a $13.8 million net loss.</li><li><a href="https://neptunecorp.com/sites/default/files/2020-11/NEPT_Earnings%20Release_Announces%20Q2%202021%20vFINAL.pdf">Neptune Wellness Solutions</a> reports C$28.7 million in revenue and a C$23.3 total comprehensive loss.</li></ul><p><em>Note: </em><em>Last week, we included incorrect financials for Green Thumb Industries. The company reported $157.1 million in revenue and a net income of $9.6 million</em></p><h2>Executive Moves</h2><ul><li>Curaleaf announces that <a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/curaleaf-announces-ceo-succession-effective-january-1-2021-301174972.html">Joseph Bayern</a> will be taking over for Joseph Lusardi as CEO starting January 2021. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/incoming-curaleaf-ceo-potential-of-new-york-marijuana-market-2020-11">Read our interview with Bayern here</a>. </li></ul><h2>Deals, launches, and IPOs</h2><ul><li>Cannabis tech startup <a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/kind-financial-announces-launch-of-first-ever-closed-loop-payment-app--kindpay-301177648.html">Kind Financial is launching KindPay</a>, a cash-free payment system for dispensaries backed by Herring Bank. </li><li>Y Combinator-backed <a href="https://news.yahoo.com/y-combinator-startup-meadow-debuts-140045769.html">Meadow launched a tool to help early-stage cannabis companies</a> access funding more efficiently. </li><li>Cannabis e-commerce startup <a href="https://dutchie.com/plus">Dutchie launched Dutchie Plus</a>, which the company says is akin to Shopify Plus, where cannabis dispensaries can create customizable online portals to connect with consumers. </li><li>Hemp company <a href="https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20201118005878/en/Vertical-Wellness-Acquires-The-Organic-Candy-Factory%C2%AE-to-Expand-Brands-Portfolio-Into-the-Fast-Growing-Better-For-You-Candy-Segment">Vertical Wellness acquired The Organic Candy Factory</a> in an all-stock transaction to develop CBD and hemp-derived candies. </li><li><a href="https://mellowicecream.com/">Mellow</a> is launching CBD and THC infused ice creams for delivery in the Los Angeles area. </li></ul><h2>Policy moves</h2><ul><li>New Jersey <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/19/nyregion/marijuana-new-jersey.html">postponed a planned vote on a bill to enact marijuana legalization</a> in the state — which voters approved earlier this month — after lawmakers couldn't agree on specifics like tax rate, social justice initiatives, and where the revenue will go. </li><li>Mexico's Senate <a href="https://mjbizdaily.com/mexican-senate-approves-cannabis-legalization-bill-ending-monthslong-delay/">approved an adult-use cannabis bill on Thursday</a>, bringing recreational cannabis one step closer to implementation. If the bill is approved both by the lower legislative chamber as well as President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, Mexico will become the third country — after Uruguay and Canada — to have a federal adult-use program.</li><li>Virginia Governor Ralph Northam <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/northam-legalizing-marijuana-virginia/2020/11/16/d829f8e6-2606-11eb-8672-c281c7a2c96e_story.html">says he supports legalizing marijuana</a> after a study found the state could generate $300 million in tax revenue from cannabis sales.</li><li>The city of Madison, Wisconsin <a href="https://www.marijuanamoment.net/lawmakers-in-wisconsin-capital-vote-to-allow-marijuana-use-in-public/">voted to remove penalties</a> around the possession and consumption of marijuana in both public and private. </li></ul><h2>Science and research</h2><ul><li> The Rothman Opioid Foundation <a href="https://rothmanopioid.org/files/ly-how-cannabinoids-effect-pain.pdf">put out a research brief</a> that found cannabis can be an effective alternative to opioids for management of chronic pain and called for additional research. </li></ul><h2>Chart of the week</h2><p>Cannabis M&amp;A is moving East, according to the Viridian Capital Advisor', which says it's seeing "a key shift in year-to-date M&amp;A activity by region." At the same time, M&amp;A activity in Western states (AZ, CA, CO and NV) is tapering down — from 63.2% of total industry M&amp;A activity in 2019 to 40.6% in 2020.</p><div type="image" title="Cannabis M&amp;A is moving east" height="920" width="1440" msid="79331247" hostid="261"></div><h2>What we're reading and watching</h2><p><a href="https://www.economist.com/the-americas/2020/11/21/mexico-may-become-the-third-country-to-legalise-cannabis">Mexico may become the third country to legalise cannabis</a> (The Economist) </p><p><a href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/city-hall/2020/11/14/21565279/lightfoot-budget-layoffs-coronavirus-budget-chicago-federation-labor">Lightfoot cancels 350 layoffs tied to her 'pandemic' budget</a> (Chicago Sun-Times)</p><p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/16/style/new-jersey-marijuana-.html?smid=tw-share">Finally, New Jersey might be cooler than New York</a> (The New York Times)</p><p><a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2020/11/11/new-jersey-navigates-cannabis-legalization-436232">Fault lines emerge as New Jersey Democrats navigate cannabis legalization</a> (Politico)</p><p><a href="https://www.bet.com/news/national/2020/11/18/smoke-marijuana-documentary-legalization-cannabis-business.html">Smoke: Marijuana + Black America</a> (BET)</p>

Canopy Growth is angling to dominate the US

<p>This is what the end of cash looks like, according to HSBC. Sweden has made so much progress toward turning itself into a cashless society that it now has 27% less hard cash in circulation today than it did in 2011 (emphasis added): </p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"><p class="source"><span>HSBC</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>HSBC global economist James Pomeroy described the phenomenon in a recent note to investors: "Sweden is slowly becoming a cashless society, with more than 95% of retail sales made with electronic payment." </p><p>With interest rates for consumers close to zero - and banks adding fees to charge consumers for saving - the logical thing to do is to pull your money out of the bank. There is some evidence that may be happening. In the third quarter of 2015, the Swedish net savings rate fell to zero, according to Statistics Sweden: </p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"><p class="source"><span><a href="http://www.scb.se/en_/Finding-statistics/Statistics-by-subject-area/Financial-markets/Financial-accounts/Savings-barometer/Aktuell-Pong/7818/Behallare-for-Press/395737/">Statistics Sweden</a></span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>That's fairly normal for Q3 - Swedes spend money for the upcoming holidays, rather than saving it. Overall, bank deposits actually rose, according to Statistics Sweden:</p><p style="padding-left: 30px;">Households continued to save in bank accounts and deposits minus withdrawals amounted to SEK 24 billion. Net deposits during the first three quarters of the year were SEK 100 billion. This can be compared to SEK 42 billion during the corresponding period last year. </p><p>This is interesting because it makes no sense. No one should store cash in bank savings if it costs you money to do so. People should be stuffing hard currency under mattresses (or <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/sweden-cashless-society-negative-interest-rates-2015-10">hiding it in microwaves, as we noted some Swedes were doing back in October</a>). </p><p>That isn't happening because Sweden has made using cash even more expensive than saving cash in a bank. <a href="http://www.riksbank.se/Documents/Rapporter/Ekonomiska_kommentarer/2015/rap_ek_kom_nr11_150929_eng.pdf">The Riksbank wrote in a recent policy discussion</a>:</p><p style="padding-left: 30px;">[Cash] must be stored in a secure manner, which costs money. Some also find it awkward to have to pay their bills by going to the bank instead of paying them over the Internet at home. It is also not free to pay bills over the counter using cash. In addition to this, many bank branches in Sweden are currently cash-free. In other words, there are both costs and a large number of technical and practical difficulties associated with paying bills in cash.</p><p>This is really interesting: Negative interest will, eventually, cost Swedes via bank charges for electronic savings and bank transactions. Fees are a sort of disguised negative interest rate, in other words. But Sweden's relentless march towards cashlessness has made it even more difficult/costly to use cash, which isn't penalised by negative interest.</p><p>So Swedes are damned if they go cashless (zero or negative interest, plus fees) and damned if they use cash (transaction fees, plus inconvenience).</p><p>In the long run, it will be interesting to see if the Swedes accept these costs, or wake up to the reality that they are losing vast sums of money as <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/chart-sweden-negative-interest-rates-property-housing-bubble-2016-2">the Riksbank persists with a technical negative interest monetary policy</a> that has so far failed (its goal is to raise inflation, which hasn't happened in years). </p><p>One last thought: That same super-low interest policy has succeeded in creating a house-price bubble in Sweden, especially in Stockholm, because money is now so cheap to borrow. Perhaps the Swedes are happy to give up their cash at -0.35% because they're enjoying <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/chart-sweden-negative-interest-rates-property-housing-bubble-2016-2">house price growth of 25% year on year</a>.</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/24-billion-in-fines-for-dish-network-telemarketing-phone-business-finance-2016-1">Dish could face $24 billion in fines for robocalls </a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="ZnamxjMDE6A7KKgjbQHt35y3p9bOSxYT" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

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