Coinstar
“Can Coinstar convert its 10,000+ physical cash-handling kiosks into a digital financial services on-ramp for cash-preferred and underbanked consumers?”
Founded1991
HQBellevue, Washington, USA
IndustryFintech / Consumer banking
The story
Originally a coin-counting kiosk operator founded in the early 1990s, Coinstar built a nationwide network of 10,000+ physical kiosks in retail locations. Starting in 2024, the company pivoted toward embedded financial services with the launch of CINQ by Coinstar, a digital wallet and debit card product designed to bridge the cash-preferred, underbanked consumer segment into digital finance. The pivot leverages their existing physical kiosk infrastructure as a cash on-ramp into digital accounts, partnering with Zero Hash for crypto and Lithic/Lead Bank for card issuing.
Last 12 months
Product timeline
1992
Coinstar launched coin-counting kiosk operations, primarily placed in grocery and retail locations across the US.· pivot
2007
Coinstar announced a new five-year $400M senior credit facility to fund acquisitions and working capital.· banking
2017
Coinstar Funding, LLC issued ABS transactions (Series 2017-1 and 2018-1) backed by kiosk revenues.· lending
2024
Coinstar launched CINQ by Coinstar digital wallet, initially enabling cash-to-crypto conversion powered by Zero Hash at 9,500+ kiosks.· banking
2025
Coinstar partnered with Lithic and Lead Bank to launch the CINQ by Coinstar Debit Card (GPR), converting physical coins/cash into digital spending power.· card
The stack
Accounting gap: none