Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Amazon Cash

amazon.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

71–80 of 206 posts

Re: Amazon Cash

#71

Post by dangrossman »

mahyarm wrote: post #11

Why wouldnt you just buy a gift card with cash at these stores?

There's benefits over gift cards for all parties:

(1) The purchase process is simpler: retrieve an Amazon Cash bar code, load cash onto it at the register, it's now on your account. You can reuse the same barcode every time you want to load cash onto the account. It can be a printed piece of paper you keep in your wallet.

Previously, you had to go to a retailer with physical cards in stock, pull one off the shelf, get it activated at the register, scratch the code, and go to a computer to load the code onto your Amazon balance. If your only internet access is at a library or school, that means two trips to reload your balance.

(2) It's cheaper for Amazon. They're paying a commission to the retailer and distributor (effectively selling the cards at less than face value). Amazon Cash eliminates most of that margin, and the distributor altogether. The commission for the retailer doesn't have to be very high since none of the transactions will have credit card fees.

Re: Amazon Cash

#72

Post by darkstar999 »

codazoda wrote: post #35
huangc10 wrote: post #3

> Choose to receive your barcode via text message or print-at-home. Bring this barcode into any participating store and show it to the cashier to add money to your Amazon Balance. As a customer I don't really understand this concept. Why do I bring my barcode to one of the stores (CVS, etc.) to reload my Amazon Balance...?

I get that part but my local grocery store sells Amazon gift cards in $10 to $50 denominations. You can buy these with cash just fine and there is no fee that the store charges and there is no tax. A $25 card costs $25 cash. Dunno if this varies by area.

It's harder to add those to your account - this barcode would do it automatically.

Re: Amazon Cash

#73

Post by beambot »

hirsin wrote: post #27
ryanSrich wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe I'm being obtuse, but why would anyone want to do that? Could you not use a credit card, debit card, or gift card?

28% of Americans don't have a credit card. 7% don't have a bank account. Those numbers are massively higher in countries that are more cash reliant like India. In 2014 20% of the world was "unbanked", a good search term if you want to do more research.

To add to this... This is probably a direct jab at Walmart, where a large portion of the unbanked / underbanked shop.

Re: Amazon Cash

#75

Post by Florin_Andrei »

Grue3 wrote: post #63

This seems inconvenient. You need to load cash into account before being able to spend it. How many online stores in card-deficient countries operate is that first you make the purchase, then you pay for it at some physical location (ATM, grocery store chains, etc.). Having to preload cash first allows for a situation where the price of items in your cart unexpectedly rises and you don't have enough money in the acco…

The target audience here is people with no credit cards and no bank accounts. The cash-only or cash-mostly population. For them, this is probably the only way they could buy on Amazon.

Clever move by Bezos & Co.

Re: Amazon Cash

#76

Post by matt4077 »

beamatronic wrote: post #62
ryanSrich wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe I'm being obtuse, but why would anyone want to do that? Could you not use a credit card, debit card, or gift card?

Won't they miss out on all the perks of credit cards (i.e. Discover cash back rebates, airline/hotel miles, etc )

Yes–tragically, the poor never even get their SkyMiles.

Re: Amazon Cash

#77

Post by crispyambulance »

samstave wrote: post #56
mabbo wrote: post #51

It's a clever business move for all involved. Amazon skips the credit card fees. The businesses working with them probably don't have to pay Amazon the money for a few weeks, meaning they get to carry an interest-generating balance in the meantime. If you don't spend all of the money you put on your account, then Amazon gets to hold that cash until you do, generating interest on the money held. All the while, the cus…

Yep, such an interesting 'innovation' in fintech.... I wonder who will come from the woodwork to oppose this? Curious though; can you ELI5 who actually pays the interest? --- I met a banker the other day and I asked him simply "how does one actually found a bank" his reply; "Oh it's really simple, have $30,000,000 and you can create your own bank!" Simple!

I will come out of the woodwork to oppose it :-)

It is not really an innovation. This is basically private money that can only be used at a particular store.

At the dawn of industrial revolution large mills used to pay their workers with "scrip" -- a private type of cash that could only be used in company-owned stores. The company basically double-dipped: first profiting from the labor of the workers, then profiting from the mark-up on the goods and services "sold" to the workers.

Once you put money in Amazon cash, it goes to Amazon and nobody else. It is no longer "cash" or legal tender if you can't use it wherever you want.

Re: Amazon Cash

#78

Post by vollmond »

crispyambulance wrote: post #77
samstave wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yep, such an interesting 'innovation' in fintech.... I wonder who will come from the woodwork to oppose this? Curious though; can you ELI5 who actually pays the interest? --- I met a banker the other day and I asked him simply "how does one actually found a bank" his reply; "Oh it's really simple, have $30,000,000 and you can create your own bank!" Simple!

I will come out of the woodwork to oppose it :-) It is not really an innovation. This is basically private money that can only be used at a particular store. At the dawn of industrial revolution large mills used to pay their workers with "scrip" -- a private type of cash that could only be used in company-owned stores. The company basically double-dipped: first profiting from the labor of the workers, then profiting…

True, but if you're going to use this, it would be easy to put together your purchase, use the barcode to add that much money to Amazon, then complete your purchase. Yes, it would probably be simpler over the long term to get a bank account or a credit card, but this is perfectly usable if someone is already planning not to do that.

Re: Amazon Cash

#79

Post by unknownsavage »

pram wrote: post #45
kennith_m wrote: post #39

Hmm, I doubt this can compete with Bitcoin, the incumbent online currency.

Amazon is not making a currency. Did you even click the link or read anything?

Please review the HN guidelines: https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

> Please don't insinuate that someone hasn't read an article. "Did you even read the article? It mentions that" can be shortened to "The article mentions that."

Re: Amazon Cash

#80

Post by rebuilder »

crispyambulance wrote: post #77
samstave wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yep, such an interesting 'innovation' in fintech.... I wonder who will come from the woodwork to oppose this? Curious though; can you ELI5 who actually pays the interest? --- I met a banker the other day and I asked him simply "how does one actually found a bank" his reply; "Oh it's really simple, have $30,000,000 and you can create your own bank!" Simple!

I will come out of the woodwork to oppose it :-) It is not really an innovation. This is basically private money that can only be used at a particular store. At the dawn of industrial revolution large mills used to pay their workers with "scrip" -- a private type of cash that could only be used in company-owned stores. The company basically double-dipped: first profiting from the labor of the workers, then profiting…

My initial reaction, formed directly after readin "Amazon Cash" was similar to yours. This doesn't seem to be the devil I thought it would be though, since it's more analogous to gift cards than private scrip, IMO. Now, if you can use "Amazon Cash" in lieu of currency by, say, transferring it to other users at will, I'm right there with you - proprietary, private money is very creepy to me.
Post reply on HN