By
Steve Muchoki
April 9th, 2024
Flexa a payment wallet system running of Winklevoss-backed Gemini cryptocurrency exchange is participating in a demo retail store featuring the latest technological innovation. The store was created by top management firm McKinsey.
Cryptocurrency startup Flexa is part of a project that will allow for technological innovations in retailing. With a pilot project at Mall of America Minnesota Minneapolis, which is the largest mall in the United States at the moment, the demo store is to serve as a proof-of-concept that new technologies are possible in the real world.
Flexa is participating in the project but serving in a technical advisory role will be on display with other non-cryptocurrency-based technologies. The store called “Modern Retail Collective” is aimed at showcasing new technologies which can spur interest in how they work.
Organized by star-studded management consulting firm, McKinsey, the store highlights how emerging technologies are now on the rise and how they will change the way we shop. With about 8,000 retail brick and mortar stores closing down this year alone, the question of generating value has taken on a new sense of urgency Mckinsey said in a Press Release.
McKinsey’s Praveen Adhi said:
“Through this project, we’ll produce cutting-edge data and analytics to help retailers define their own vision for their store of the future.”
Similarly, referring to the best use-case scenarios of cryptocurrencies, Flexa CEO Tyler Spalding told Coindesk in an interview:
“This is going to show the legitimacy of how this stuff works.”
He further noted that Mckinsey advises companies whose size can present modest realtime savings across supply chains if scaled up (depending on size). He further stated:
“We’re able to have a solution that makes the consumer experience better and it achieves that kind of goal right out of the gate.”
Flexa’s “Wow” Factor
SPEDN which is Flexa’s payment app allows for real-time payments which occurs instantly using cryptocurrencies because merchants are the ones who bear the cost of transactions on Flexa’s network and it comes fee-free to users. Transactions beyond the weekly spending limit of $100 come with little or no ID verification features but can be tracked and monitored in case of suspicious transactions.
Flexa also allows for multiple cryptocurrency wallets to be connected to the one app SPEDN. This allows for debiting of any of the wallets the user chooses. All funds paid to the merchant in real-time are guaranteed by Flexacoin and funds are held by the Winklevoss owned and operated cryptocurrency exchange Gemini and are also backed by insurance.
Using a unique barcode, a settlement is made in real-time so that both the merchant and the buyer have what they want at the same time. While this kind of innovation may seem unlikely, it serves as a use-case scenario of how non-traditional financial systems are coming to light and are making a splash in the world today.
It is expected that the store will present an opportunity for new technologies to take root in society. Other technological innovations running side-by-side with Flexa include Facecake (augmented reality), Chatter Research (conversational AI) and ComQi (digital signatures). Square is also going to participate but without its Cryptocurrency innovations.
Flexa expects that the data gathered from this demonstration will provide insights into several aspects of the business process as regards retailing.
Enthusiastic about this Tyler Spalding noted:
“We’ll be able to document all this and we’ll be able to participate in the research that McKinsey is really known for. We can really nail down: here’s what a transaction costs, here’s what the timing is.”
This, of course, goes to show that the future of retailing lies in how the public understands and uses cryptocurrencies and their various innovations.