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Startup Slide Mobile is betting that consumer’s love of rewards, coupled with the growing momentum behind cryptocurrency as a contactless payment option during the Covid-19 pandemic, will entice more consumers to use its mobile-payments app.
Slide announced this week it is partnering with BitPay Inc., an Atlanta-based processor that offers crypto e-wallets, to accept multiple cryptocurrencies for purchases through Slide’s network of 150 retailers. The hook for cryptocurrency users is they can earn cash-back rewards paid in dollars for each purchase within Slide’s merchant network.
Slide, which launched in July, positions itself as a mobile-engagement tool for retailers to drive traffic, incremental sales, and brand loyalty through cash back. Slide users can earn 4% cash back in dollars when purchasing online or in store. As an added incentive to shop within the Slide network, consumers can earn 5% cash back when prefunding their account with cryptocurrency through BitPay or other payment options, such as credit cards.
Merchants in the Slide network include Lowe’s, Ulta Beauty, and Chipotle. The company’s technology works with retailers’ existing gift card rails, eliminating the cost and time of setting up a new point-of-sale system.
Slide users can apply their cash-back earnings to future purchases. They can also transfer them from their Slide account in $15 increments to a Venmo or PayPal account. Slide is owned by Raise Marketplace LLC, a mobile-payments company backed by several investors including PayPal Ventures.
Slide will accept multiple cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Ether, and dollar-pegged stablecoins such as USDC, PAX, and BUSD. Stablecoins are cryptocurrencies pegged to fiat currencies, such as dollars. Stablecoins’ lack of volatility makes them more useful for everyday commerce, observers argue.
“Our aim is to make (digital) payments ubiquitous by adding currencies people want to pay with,” says George Bousis, founder and executive chairman of Raise Marketplace. “It made sense to add BitPay because it has a lot of liquidity people are looking to spend and it’s contactless, which is growing [in popularity].”
The rising value of cryptocurrencies during the Covid-19 pandemic has many investors looking to spend the profits, says Talie Baker, a senior analyst for Boston-based Aite Group. Luxury items in particular, such as Ferrari automobiles, are popular purchases for cryptocurrency users.
“There is a growing population of people that have made a lot of money trading crypto, and they want to buy nice things with it,” Baker says by email.
While many cryptocurrency owners are looking to cash out the value of their assets through purchases of luxury items, Bousis argues that a lot of users still want to use the currency to buy everyday items, from coffee to home-improvement products. Offering a cash-back feature enhances the appeal of Slide by giving users a way to earn more by spending cryptocurrency on routine purchases, he says.
“Cash-back is a way for people to put money in their pocket,” says Bousis, who adds Slide users average five transactions a month. “Consumers understand cash-back, and in today’s environment, every dollar matters.”
