“Can Coinstar convert its 10,000+ physical cash-handling kiosks into a digital financial services on-ramp for cash-preferred and underbanked consumers?”
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.
Coinstar discloses Lithic as its banking provider, with Lead Bank as its sponsor bank, according to the Embedded Finance Index 2026.
Coinstar does not disclose a bank charter of its own; its banking services are provided through Lead Bank.
Coinstar moves money over ACH.
Coinstar's cards are issued through Lithic.
Coinstar's crypto products run on Zero Hash.
The Embedded Finance Index 2026 maps 5 layers in Coinstar's stack: Money movement (ACH); Banking / BaaS (Lithic); Card issuing (Lithic); Sponsor bank (Lead Bank); Crypto (Zero Hash).
Coinstar is founded in 1991 and headquartered in Bellevue, Washington, USA.
Get a read on where your own stack stands against Coinstar and the rest of its category — what they built versus bought, which providers they use, and where the gaps in your own strategy and competitive set actually are.