A NEW cashback site that will rival Quidco could save shoppers hundreds of pounds.
With soaring prices amid the cost-of-living crisis, there’s no better time to try and make your money go further.
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Now, one fresh venture looks to deliver cash back to punters by enabling them to buy thousands of products directly from it.
The new app, named ChaChing, will launch in the UK this week before going live in the US next month, reports Sky News.
Among ChaChing’s co-founders is Alastair Lukies, who served as Britain’s fintech ambassador during David Cameron’s reign as Prime Minister.
It aims to counter spiralling advertising fees charged by tech behemoths such as Google and Amazon.
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ChaChing’s biggest aim is to address the growing proportion of revenues that retailers using the biggest technology companies to sell online must hand to them in advertising fees.
They argue that the auction model employed by those giants have driven up advertising costs to the point where retailers are now forced to spend up to 50 per cent of the value of each online sale on promotional costs in order to maintain search engine results.
But ChaChing say they could improve this by allowing partners such as retailers to choose their cost-per-order.
The majority of that would then immediately passed on to the consumer.
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For consumers, it added, the ChaChing model would save between 15 per cent and 50 per cent on their online purchases.
And instant “payback” will be handed to you after you check out online.
One example cited by the company was a customer buying a pair of trainers for £100, which the retailer had spent £20 advertising on ChaChing.
In this scenario, you could then receive up to £18 back via an immediate transfer into your bank account.
ChaChing would retain the difference.
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The new app will rival leading cashback website Quidco which offers money back when you buy from over 5,000 of your favourite retailers.
Purchasing through the Quidco website sees you get a percentage of the cash you spent delivered back to you to spend as you please.
On average, each Quidco member receives a return of £300 a year and the site guarantees the best cashback offers in the UK.
They have two membership options and one is completely free.
It is understood that sources close to the Cha Ching claim it has signed up retailers such as Debenhams, Fenwick’s and TM Lewin as merchant partners.
ChaChing has also secured backing from prominent business figures such as John Thompson, the former Microsoft chairman, the Abrdn chairman Sir Douglas Flint and Garry Lyons, a former chief technology officer of MasterCard.
Two of the co-founders of the London-based ad agency M&C Saatchi – David Kershaw and Bill Muirhead – are also involved.
The launch of ChaChing comes as rising regulatory concerns about the power wielded by the world’s biggest technology companies.
ChaChing also plans to give consumers the option of donating part of their rebate to charity, with Great Ormond Street Hospital having signed up in this capacity.
It is separately working to provide cash rewards to NHS staff through its intranet, while The Mum Club, a networking platform for mothers, has agreed to promote ChaChing to its members.
Other retail partners are understood to be in the process of being lined up by ChaChing.
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“We are very excited to be partnering with ChaChing as we are continually looking for the most efficient and effective way to reach millions of new customers,” Dan Finley, chief executive of Debenhams, said.
“We want to be at the forefront of innovation in our industry, hence why we are a launch partner with ChaChing.”
