A survey conducted by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) in 2015 suggested that about 9 million US households do not own a bank account, and thus do not possess a debit or a credit card. As a result, these consumers have no access to online shopping, which almost always requires you to enter your credit or debit card to proceed to checkout. But this was before the arrival on the market of PayNearMe, Amazon Cash and PayPal My Cash.
Launched in 2010, PayNearMe was a pioneer in the field. It allows unbanked consumers to pay for bills and online purchases with cashMoney in physical form such as banknotes and coins. More at partner retailers. The system works via a barcodeMethod for encoding information, which can be read by machines. Barcodes store information using a combination of printed parallel lines (bars) and in the spaces that are left between them. Reading stored data is performed using optical readers. More sent to the clients’ smartphone or in a printable format containing the bill’s details after s/he clicked on the “pay with cash” option. Customers can then visit any of the 28,000 participating retailers including CVS Pharmacy and 7-Eleven and pay the amount of their online purchases with cash. The system can also be used to pay for utility or insurance bills. Michael Kaplan – Manager at PayNearMe – explains that the service was originally intended for unbanked people, but is also used by consumers fearing data breaches. Indeed, the multitude of cyber-attacks that were conducted against banks or e-commerce websites over the past years has led many consumers to mistrust the system and go back to a more traditional payment methodSee Payment instrument. More – paperSee Banknote paper. More moneyFrom the Latin word moneta, nickname that was given by Romans to the goddess Juno because there was a minting workshop next to her temple. Money is any item that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts, such as taxes, in a particular region, country or socio-economic context. Its onset dates back to the origins of humanity and its physical representation has taken on very varied forms until the appearance of metal coins. The banknote, a typical representati... More.
Amazon and PayPal followed the trend and have both recently launched Cash cards. These cards can be purchased at retailers or grocery stores and loaded with cash. These are then used to pay online under the same principle as a debit card. Amazon Cash service is completely free of charge, while PayPal applies a $3.95 activation fee. Customers using PayNearMe might be charged additional taxes, although retailers are strongly encouraged to absorb the fees.
One of the rare drawbacks that can be cited is the repayment process in case of a dispute about the quality or delivery of goods. Customers paying with a credit card will be immediately refunded, while consumers using cash services will have to go through an additional step to get their money back. Yet the service have proven to be very successful, and PayNearMe is believed to move about a billion dollars every year through its network.
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