Originally Posted by
CanuckFlyHigh
Sidenote: There is an app called InKind - I have NO IDEA how they make money but all of the F+B establishments in this hotel use it. You can get a $25 off $75 at both Zaytinya and Nubeluz (just go to their websites and the offer will pop up), and then you also get a whole bunch of cash back on every purchase. It often felt like we would get a $100 bill, get $25 off, and then get $25 in cash back for our next purchase. Worth downloading.
The mystery of InKind: they offer an upfront loan to the restaurant, and it's paid back with dining credits. For example: If they loan the restaurant $150, InKind asking for $300 of dining credit in return. The earning is from reselling the dining credit to the app users - in the above case, they resold $100 credit for $75, and rinse and wash 3 times (amount of credit from $150 loan), InKind makes $75 from the $150 loan ($225 collected - $150 loaned). The cost for the restaurant is to provide $200 in food and beverage at their menu price.
This is similar with restaurant financing where they hand out miles or points based on registered credit card - the flip side is RewardsNetwork takes a percentage of sale where miles are given to repay the loan.