Multi-Merchant Rewards Platform, Thank U Cash, Gets Funding from Microtraction

Early-stage Nigerian startup, Thank U Cash, secures funding from VC firm, Mircotraction.

Founded in 2017, Thank U Cash is a multi-merchant rewards platform for sellers. It enables merchants (sellers) accept payments from customers and rewards them with instant cash back when they pay with cash or card, online or offline.

In simple terms, Thank U Cash is a payment processor that offers cash back to buyers every time they make a payment. The platform helps buyers save up to 50% on each transaction. A cashback policy like tax rebate would, most likely, increase customer spending. It encourages customers to buy more from merchants.

Any cash back earned can be spent at any merchant in the ‘Thank U Cash’ network, either online, in-store or on the ‘Thank U Cash’ app. pic.twitter.com/S7OYZfgZEa

— Yele Bademosi (@YeleBademosi) August 20, 2018

However, that’s not the only thing the platform offers though. Thank U Cash also provides an analytics platform that allows merchants to better understand their sales and what customers purchase more. To collect payments, Thank U Cash uses a sort of hybrid approach; it provides merchants with POS machines, as well as online gateways.

Now, many banks have policies not to give POS devices to businesses making revenues of less than N1.5m. But in partnership with the startup, banks can now provide POS devices to businesses which generate as low as N300,000.

Started by Madonna Ononobi, Simeon Ononobi, and Suraj Supekar, Thank U Cash now operates at over 30 merchant locations and has over 9,000 online merchants.

Thank U Cash: Another Investment by Microtraction

This is Microtraction’s fifth investment since it was created last year. And quite notably, this is its third investment in two weeks.

We are thrilled to announce @microtraction’s investment in @ThankUCash.

‘Thank U Cash’ rewards you with instant cash back when you pay with cash or card, online or offline. https://t.co/NC3pB51EPF

— Yele Bademosi (@YeleBademosi) August 20, 2018

“We had thought about different loyalty products for SMEs and merchants”, says Yele Badamosi, CEO Microtraction. “But what ‘Thank U Cash’ was trying to do was a unique solution to a series of overlapping and adjacent problems.”

Although the exact funding amount was not disclosed, Microtraction usually invests up to $65,000 in startups.

Here are @microtraction companies in the order they've been announced to date
1 @cowrywise | https://t.co/Lu9q3qf3IK
2 @buycoinsafrica | https://t.co/DUX7UpPL7m
3 @thewalletng | https://t.co/DsQqN6Q7nV
4 Allpro | https://t.co/W2lD0JF6q9
5 @ThankUCash | https://t.co/JTFYyPq0mz pic.twitter.com/Ce2DPiL1UQ

— Yele Bademosi (@YeleBademosi) August 20, 2018

“Thank U Cash has the ability to address affordability and non-consumption for POS”, Microtraction believes. The startup can make the device more accessible to lower earning merchants thanks to “improved economics for Banks & PTSPs”.

Microtraction hopes that, in the future, the startup would evolve, providing financial services such as credits leveraging transaction history while also developing APIs and collaborations with other companies and services.