EXCLUSIVE: “Counting the Cost” – Ron Delnevo, Payment Choice Alliance and Gareth Evans, Cash Perks in ‘The Fintech Magazine’

With almost five million UK households struggling to pay essential bills, Chair of the Payment Choice Alliance, Ron Delnevo spoke to Cash Perks’ Gareth Evans about the vital role of cash innovation in alleviating financial hardship

As the cost-of-living crisis intensifies in the UK, the need to provide immediate financial support to struggling households has dramatically escalated. When it comes to aiding those in financial distress, the growing call is to prioritise cash payments over food parcels or shopping vouchers. In a way, this is simply the UK catching up with what’s happening globally in relation to humanitarian aid, with the proportion made in cash increasing from less than five per cent two decades ago to around 40 per cent today.This ‘cash first’ approach in the UK is being championed by a number of anti-poverty charities, from the Trussell Trust to the Child Poverty Action Group.

As well as international precedents, it is based on mounting UK evidence – including from a recent All-Party Parliamentary Group report – that not only does cash provide greater dignity and choice but, importantly, is also shown to deliver greater impact than other forms of assistance. When things are tight, cash is crucial for budgeting, offering greater control and clarity in spending.

The benefit of direct cash payments has also been shown to extend beyond individual households, creating a positive ripple effect on sometimes struggling community economies, especially among small businesses, which often smoothly recycle cash locally. Yet for local councils, housing associations and charities, the process of disbursing cash support has to date been far from straightforward. It can prove time-consuming, complex, and particularly challenging to make payments to the most financially vulnerable members of society. This includes the 1.4 million individuals without bank accounts, the 14 million UK residents still relying on unarranged overdrafts annually, and those in specific distressing circumstances, such as newly arrived migrants, individuals facing homelessness or those seeking to escape domestic violence.

One tech-for-good startup using innovative technology to help overcome the challenges of getting cash payments instantly to those wbo need it most is Cash Perks. It enables cash payments to be instantly sent to those in most need via SMS text messages, allowing the recipient to immediately collect their funds, 24/7 locally, via more than 17,000 ATMs across the UK, without the need for a bank account or mobile bankingapp and reducing the processing times from days to minutes.

Gareth Evans, founder of Cash Perks explains: “Our mission is to provide instant support to those facing financial hardship, as we believe that providing cash is the most effective and dignified way to assist people in crisis. We are proud to offer an innovative and straightforward method that helps council, housing association and charity partners overcome the many challenges of delivering payments to those in most need.“

Evans was inspired to create Cash Perks while working with Clarion Housing, the largest housing association in the country, where he was designing an emergency food and fuel grant scheme for its residents. Research had highlighted both the business case for providing such emergency payments in the form of cash, and the lack of practical options for sending those cash payments. That spurred Evans to create a more efficient solution for both recipients and organisations providing the support.

“The benefit of direct cash payments has also been shown to extend beyond individual households”

Since its inception in late 2020, Cash Perks has disbursed nearly £6million, via 50,000 individual payments. This has been achieved in partnership with some of the largest councils in the country – such as Leeds, Barking & Dagenham, Haringey, and Kensington & Chelsea – as well as leading social landlords, major national charities, such as National Emergencies Trust, and local charities like North Paddington Foodbank and Manchester Citizens Advice.

All of these organisations have been helped to distribute virtually instantly vital welfare and emergency payments.

The popularity of Cash Perks’ service as far as payment recipients are concerned has been highlighted by the company’s own impact survey. Fifty-five per cent of those supported, preferred ATM cash collection, followed by bank transfer (36 per cent), cheque (four per cent), food parcel (three per cent), and shopping vouchers (two per cent).The platform can also be used by credit unions and community development financial institutions to transfer funds instantly to their customers.

Having already received recognition in the UK in the shape of various awards for digital innovation, social impact and public sector transformation, Cash Perks recently emerged triumphant on the world stage, at the CashTech Innovation Awards in Istanbul, picking up an ‘Oscar’ for its use of technology to improve access to cash.The decision by key organisations to use Cash Perks to distribute support coincides with a wider return to cash use by the British public. According to 2023 British Retail Consortium figures, cash use the previous year grew for the first time in a decade, rising to 19 per cent of all transactions (from 15 per cent in 2021). The BRC said that reflected ‘a choice by many households to use cash to budget more carefully during the onset of the cost-of-living crisis, as well as a natural return to cash usage following the move to contactless during Covid’. And all the evidence suggests that it’s helping many keep their heads above water.

CashTech 2023 winners

Run by the online French cash thinktank CashEssentials with Sesame, a cash management platform provider, the CashTech Innovation Awards, held during the Future of Cash Conference in Istanbul, recognised three innovative companies that leverage software and modern technology to improve cash services. Sharing the winners’ podium with Cash Perks in November 2023 were:

Managecash Personal from Otokod Technologies in Turkey

The first consumer app in the Managecash portfolio of B2B products that automate and track cash operations throughout the cash supply chain, Managecash Personal enables consumers to access cash from shops or individuals using a QR code without the need for a POS terminal or hardware. The app is currently being piloted in a closed test.

One Donation Dollar from the Royal Australian Mint

An estimated six million distinctive ‘Donation Dollars’ (one AS$) are now in circulation in Australia, having been launched in 2020 as a tangible way to encourage people to give a small amount more frequently. Distributed through banks, the Donation Dollar has so far generated an additional AS$55million in incremental charitable giving, which will only increase in future years.

CASE STUDY

HOW GIVING CASH SAVED ONE COUNCIL £75,000

Barking and Dagenham is the 21st most deprived local authority area in England. The council was the first to adopt Cash Perks back in late 2020, initially piloting it to send hardship payments for those customers without bank accounts.Following the success of the pilot, including significant efficiency savings, the council has now embedded the Cash Perks solution, using it to disburse millions of pounds of emergency and welfare payments annually.

Rob Nellist, welfare services manager at the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham, says: “Cash Perks was a no-brainer and has enabled us to pick up emergency cases and have support payments issued within the hour.” Within its Children’s Services directorate, Cash Perks has been specifically used to completely replace its complex and time-consuming petty cash system that previously required social workers to escort clients to collect their payments. It is estimated to have already saved more than 3,500 hours of social worker time – equivalent to £75,000.

Ella Lukos, then business improvement manager with Children’s Services at Barking and Dagenham Council, explains: “Cash Perks has not only allowed us to support our vulnerable clients much more efficiently, but also helped our social workers to cut down on time spent to try to deliver the funds to their clients. The process is simple to follow, allowing us to easily track and analyse the payments”

This article was published in The Fintech Magazine Issue 31, Page 26-27