While the company is still on the hunt for the right investment partnership, Ching continues to upgrade its services to suit the needs of the region and is currently available on Android and will be available on iOS this year, 2019. Photo: Provided

According to Mr Lettsome, “In the developed world, small businesses have the tools they need to excel and to get a running start, this is just not the case in the Caribbean.” Photo: Youtube

On November 28, 2018, Virgin Islander and Caribbean entrepreneur, Chad A. Lettsome, left his imprint with ‘Ching’ as he walked across the stage at the ‘Present Your Startup Global 2018’ competition in Haarlem, Netherlands. Photo: Provided

According to a release from the company dated Friday, January 4, 2019, financial technology start-up Ching, competed against 4 other startups before a slate of investors, judges and hundreds of spectators with the aims of attracting investment to scale up the company. Photo: Provided

According to a release from the company dated Friday, January 4, 2019, financial technology start-up Ching, competed against 4 other startups before a slate of investors, judges and hundreds of spectators with the aims of attracting investment to scale up the company.

What is Ching?

According to the company, Ching is the first Caribbean based mobile payment app bringing modern fiat payment solutions to the Caribbean at scale.

In choosing the name, Mr Lettsome said ‘Cha-Ching’ is the universal sound of money. ‘Sound traverse languages, so we wanted something that would definitely resonate with people no matter if they spoke Dutch, French, English or Spanish… because these are all spoken in the Caribbean and we wanted something that would resonate with people around the world,” he said.

The release said that Ching has been accelerated by The Forge and The Branson Center of Entrepreneurship in the Virgins Island and Jamaica and now by the European accelerator, Present Your Startup (PYS).” 

 “Ching aims to empower Caribbean individuals and businesses and elevate the regional economy through the use of their mobile app,” the release notes.

The app allows businesses to accept credit cards on any device, anytime, anywhere. 

Regional First

According to Mr Lettsome, “In the developed world, small businesses have the tools they need to excel and to get a running start, this is just not the case in the Caribbean.”

He said, “And because of that, there is a hinder on the economy, there is this pain that is created for all the people who want to travel to the Caribbean and expect to pay with [a] card and find out they can’t.”

While the company is still on the hunt for the right investment partnership, Ching continues to upgrade its services to suit the needs of the region and is currently available on Android and will be available on iOS this year, 2019.

“No cash, no problem man… chin is a thing,” he told the audience in the opening of his presentation at the PYS Global 2018 competition.   

In September 2018, Ching won the Present Your Startup Caribbean competition that took place in Curacao and has become the Startup to watch in the Caribbean.