When the going gets tough, the tough go blockchain.

That’s the takeaway from the news that payment network platform Quisk will store its transaction ledgers on a private blockchain. The blockchain layer will work with Quisk’s existing platform and APIs to give banks easy access to transaction data such as merchant settlement and bank reconciliation via their own backend systems.

“We are excited to be leveraging the tremendous power of Blockchain technology to propagate trust among our customer banks,” Quisk CTO Praveen Amancheria said. “This technology eliminates barriers, giving banks the ability to easily and securely access their transaction data.” Amancheria called blockchain “the next internet for the financial industry” and added that “the tools to retrieve data from (the) Blockchain will soon be as ubiquitous as web browsers.”

Pictured (left to right): Quisk CTO Praveen Amancheria and CMO Dan Glessner demonstrating the Quisk digital services platform at FinovateFall 2015.

Quisk has developed a technology, digital cash, that enables banks to take advantage of the 85% of all retail transactions worldwide that are still cash-based. “Banks make nothing when cash is used,” Quisk CMO Dan Glessner explained during the company’s demo at FinovateFall. “We enable banks to create a new type of account, and to monetize the digital cash transactions.” Quisk partners with issuing and acquiring banks to create what Amancheria called an “open interoperable payment network.” He said: “we have a very ambitious goal: we want to do for cash what Visa and Mastercard have done for credit.”

Users of the new accounts can access their money using their smartphone and a PIN. The platform supports 14 different transaction types including P2P and P2M (person-to-merchant), and works with incumbent POS systems. As part of the company’s Finovate demo, Glessner and Amancheria showed how a consumer could make a purchase without cash, debit or credit card, or even the physical smartphone itself simply using his moible phone number and PIN. Moreoever, as Amancheria reminded the banks in the audience, “if Dan had paid with cash, the banks would have made zero. But because Dan used Quisk, banks have the opportunity to make money off of this digital cash transaction.” Amancheria also highlighted the digital loyalty and rewards opportunities available to merchants using the Quisk platform, as well.

Pictured: Quisk CTO Praveen Amancheria during his presentation at FinDEVr Silicon Valley 2015.

Glessner and Amancheria underscored how the technology was especially beneficial in helping banks work with underserved communities. Because the technology works with both smartphone and feature phones, and on all types of mobile network operator services, Amancheria said, “banks can reach out to the widest possible market segment and acquire new types of customers … those who have mobile phones but no bank accounts.”

Founded in 2010 and headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, Quisk demonstrated its platform at FinovateFall 2015. The company also participated in our developers conference, discussing the technology behind its digital services platform at FinDEVr 2015 Silicon Valley. Last year, Quisk deployed its technology at National Commercial Bank Jamaica Limited (NCB) and with Network International in UAE. The company has raised $5 million in funding and includes Acadia Woods Partners and Plug and Play among its investors.