DISQUS

Matty O · 2 years ago

Matt,
Thanks for the exposure. Glad you see PaidByCash as compelling enough for a discussion. A couple quick responses:

1) PaidByCash is a Virtual MasterCard® product and is accepted by nearly every online merchant engaged in e-commerce. What that means is that regardless of whether or not the merchant has the PaidByCash option in their online checkout, they can still accept payment through our service because we run over their existing MasterCard network (means no integration downtime, either). As such, the Safeway.com site for instance, can defintely use PaidByCash because they "see" it as a MasterCard transaction.

2) Compared to what alot of these consumers are doing today to complete their online shopping experience (read: Money Orders). This is no chore at all. And, it's cheaper, faster and more convenient.

3) And, glad you differentiated us from the PayByCash service which may appear similar, but probably shouldn't be given as a direct comparison to us -- they've got a different model.

At first glance, most of us may not see the market this opens up to online merchants -- that's because most of us (your readers) are not among the unbanked and credit constrained. We have no problem laying down plastic to pay for goods and services. Reality is, there is a huge cash-based society in America and bringing these people into the e-commerce economy instantly infuses merchants with an extremely robust buying population that will not cannibalize their existing payment channels.

will · 2 years ago

Sequoia funded Green Dot (where I work) has been doing this for quite a long time, and has long been recognized as the leader in this space. Give us some love too :)

Andy · 2 years ago

how else can someone buy an AK-47

Don Vaillancourt · 2 years ago

It was announced a while back here in Canada that banks were already working on a solution using Interac bank cards which I can't wait for. It a solution that was described similarly to how OpenId operates.

Doug Mehus · 2 years ago

Don, that service went live early last year, I believe. It's called Interac Online and requires you to login with your online banking credentials to approve the transaction and then it immediately sends payment to the participating merchant. It's a good idea, except they charge $1.50 per transaction. A total turn off when I can just pay by Visa and pay my Visa off immediately to prevent credit card interest from accruing. If they wanted to make it successful, they'd make the merchants pay for it either through a monthly fee, transaction fees, or both. This would be similar to Interac Direct Payment purchases.

Cheers,
Doug

Sundar Krishnamurthy · 2 years ago

If I get this right, the customer buys online, goes to a physical location to pay with cash, gets a debit card, and then uses it to pay online?

If it is aimed at adults without credit cards, these are the same folks who are least likely to be buying online.

If it is aimed at teenagers, it is unlikely they will go through the online-offline-online transaction process.

Not sure how this is of any value with all the friction it introduces in completing a simple transaction.

Matty O · 2 years ago

A Harris Interactive Study from 02/05 estimates teens and young adults (ages 8 – 21) spend $22 billion online annually. That same study showed that 42% of teens and young adults (13 – 21) “wanted to buy something online, but didn’t because” they “didn’t have a way to pay”.

Adriana Lima · 2 years ago

I couldn't understand some parts of this article Shop online with cash? How quaint, but I guess I just need to check some more resources regarding this, because it sounds interesting.

Visa Merchant · 2 years ago

Great post about Shop online with cash? How quaint!

chandrimahalder · 3 months ago

That sounds interesting. I blocked my ATM Card and not able to get a book which I need right now within 4 business days. Now I can shop online by cash payment ! Would you guys help us with home delivery.I really don't understand the funda.