To do that, they're basically re-inventing money with a product they call Kurrenci.
"Kurrenci is more valuable money for the web," Hecht explains.
Here's how it works. You setup an account and buy Kurrenci at a dollar-per-dollar rate. You can link to a credit card or bank account, or just pay cash at a Moneygram location.
The savings come when you use the Kurrenci to check out at a participating merchant. Each merchant sets a Kurrenci exchange rate that makes your dollar worth more.
Hecht explains, "Let's say you bought 100 Kurrenci, it cost you $100 US dollars. Except when you spend it, it may actually be worth $120 or $140 or $150, at the point of checkout."
Merchants can change their exchange rates, which is essentially your discount, every 12 hours. And though your Kurrenci dollar may be worth more, it will never be worth less than $1.
Kurrenci is a new start-up. So far, only about a half-dozen online merchants are accepting it.
But Hecht says its popularity is growing, especially because it's an easy way for merchants to offer you more for your money, without getting into complicated coupon codes or cashback deals.
"We just started to on-board our merchants and we're adding a few every single week, we have a long backlog of merchants," Hecht says. "We'rer trying to bring them on as quickly as we can."To check out Kurrenci or to set up an account, click here.
