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Kiosks offer pawn shops recurring revenue opportunities

January 4, 2012 by Behshad Hastibakhsh — Director of Marketing, TIO Networks Corp

Technology-centric products and solutions that cater to the needs of financially underserved consumers have enjoyed recent growth, according to the Center for Financial Services Innovation (CSFI). In 2010, underbanked consumers paid an estimated $45 billion in convenience fees and interest charges for access to essential financial services using multiple channels. Self-serve automated kiosks have evolved as the core innovation that enables service providers to generate recurring transactional revenue by addressing the immediate needs of underbanked consumers. Multi-channel bill payment processing companies, such as TIO Networks, have pioneered an affiliate program that offers independent sales organizations (ISOs) the opportunity to generate recurring revenue with the deployment of financial services kiosk network.

The kiosk affiliate program is a natural fit for pawnbrokers, who on a daily basis engage in cash-based transactions with underbanked consumers. Pawn shops can introduce self-serve financial kiosks as a new line of product to gain a competitive edge, increase in-store foot traffic, and drive recurring transactional revenue. Bill-pay kiosks function as an automated sales force that enables consumers to securely and conveniently pay their wireless, cable, utility and other bills. Across the United States, more than 60 million underbanked consumers with little or no access to traditional banking services rely on alternative financial services to pay their bills through self-serve kiosks, over the counter (POS), online, mobile, and other channels.

Pawn shops can sign up for the kiosk affiliate program and engage technology companies with turnkey solutions, that include expedited bill payment processing capability and strong biller relationships, to convert consumers' needs into recurring revenue. Pawn stores are suitable locations for secure delivery of financial services to consumers who at times apply for a short term loan in exchange for collateral to make last minute payments on their bills, and to avoid the disruption of essential services and late fees. This provides pawnshops with new revenue generating opportunities, as they tap into the growing cash- preferred consumer marketplace.

Today, pawn stores are quite different from the cramped, smoke-filled shops of a generation ago. A growing number of store owners and managers see a bright horizon with the introduction of innovative technology solutions that attract new clientele and help meet consumers' needs. Among new consumers, there are the working lower and middle classes, who with the given current economic conditions frequent pawn shops to secure short term loans, pay their bills, and manage personal finances. Hence, it is likely that financial services kiosks can help grow the pawnshop business.

About Behshad Hastibakhsh

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