PayPal wooing the unbanked
This post is also available in:
Cashless PayPal, the company that passed the anti-cash “There’s new money in town” commercial during the NFL’s 2016 Super Bowl, will now allow its customers to withdraw cashMoney in physical form such as banknotes and coins. More at ATMs thanks to a soon-to-be-launched PayPal debit card. In an announcement to the Wall Street Journal [paywall], PayPal stated that it will begin to offer more traditional banking services, including debit cards as well as direct deposits for paychecks and other services. This offer is set to be launched sometime in the second half of the year following consumer testing.
PayPal already made a first move to accommodate the under- and unbanked via the PayPal Cash card which allows users to upload cash to their PayPal card for their online purchases. This time, however, users will also be able to retrieve cash.
Speaking to TechCrunch, Bill Ready of PayPal explains, “For folks who don’t have bank accounts, for folks who don’t have credit and debit cards, we want to give them something so they’re not turning to prepaid cards, check cashiers and payday lenders”.
The plight of the unbanked has been identified as a new business opportunity for large paymentA transfer of funds which discharges an obligation on the part of a payer vis-à-vis a payee. More giants such as Amazon and Square who have realised the challenges some people face to get access to financial services – and how costly these can sometimes be.
PayPal will charge a fee for services such as check deposits and ATM deposits, but they will amount to only 1% and will not impose minimum balances on accounts.
This post is also available in: