Here in Europe, I know quite a few people that do not want to use their credit-card online. Seems like this is made for them.
Amazon Cash
121–130 of 206 posts
Re: Amazon Cash
#122I see this as trying to get more sales from their app from customers who only have cash.
Now, an amazon customer without a credit card or bank account has to use a gift card, which they purchase at a store. That is a lot of hassle, IMO. Sometimes an Amazon gift card is not available (i.e. not sold at Walmart) and they purchase a visa or amex or vanilla. Those have high fees and/or very confusing sign up requirements.
There is no way to reload a used amazon gift card. Since amazon has no brick and mortar store they can't sell me a one-time-only card for future loads.
Bankless and cash only customers, that I have seen, all have smart phones. Most of the time the reference numbers used to send and receive money are texted.
So, I think having a method to load an Amazon gift card from a store with cash is their end goal. [As an aside, I tried to find out if Amazon will accept credit cards at point of sale registers for gift card loading. This is, of course, prohibited, in most places as you can't buy a Visa card with anything except cash or a debit card).
I assume they have data that says the cash-only, smartphone sophisicated cohort underuses Amazon.
Re: Amazon Cash
#123This seems like Starbucks' mobile payment system, but in reverse. At Starbucks, you spend at the local store, and fund your account using your credit card. With Amazon Cash, you fund your account at the local store, and spend it online.
Re: Amazon Cash
#124It'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…
Sounds like a check card at Bank of Amazon, that maybe isn't a "bank" because of loopholes in the banking law.
Yeah, the wording in the FAQ has me a little confused:
2) Where can I use Amazon Cash?
We have partnered with thousands of stores across the country, including CVS Pharmacy®, Speedway, Sheetz, Kum & Go, D&W Fresh Market, Family Fare Supermarkets, and VG's Grocery with more retailers coming soon. A directory of all participating stores can be found at www.amazon.com/cash.
Are they saying you can also spend your 'Amazon dollars' at those stores? Because then that definitely does sound like 'bank of Amazon'. It would be a logical way to get a slice of that sweet sweet payment intermediary industry pie.
EDIT: And it would put them in prime position to collect data on their competitors' retail transactions...
Re: Amazon Cash
#125Earlier quoted context omitted.
First job I had out of college, when it came to payday, my boss handed me a paycheck with pay stub and I folded it up and put it in my pocket. He told me that I was supposed to sign the check and hand it back to him, and then he'd pay me cash for the face value of the check. He seemed incredulous that I didn't know that immediately; he asked me if I was a trust fund kid and if this was my first job. I told him, a lit…
if you wanted to dodge taxes, you probably would go straight to cash in this case... checks leave a trail.
The employer was taking the check back immediately in exchange for cash. He may never have cashed those checks, but used a different check or transfer mechanism to repay himself (or the cash could've been the company's to begin with). Handing the checks to the employees, as part of a tax dodge, could've been just enough action to appear legitimate to the people working for him, but the trail could easily end with him since all he had to do was burn those checks afterwards.
Re: Amazon Cash
#126So, to unpack this a bit, the elephant in the room is that Banks still wait days for a check to clear (hello BOA) when we obviously have the technology to check (no pun intended) if a cheque is valid incredibly quickly.
So people who lesser means resort to gift cards, amazon cash, etc.
Re: Amazon Cash
#127Earlier quoted context omitted.
I can't help but think that there's an insidiousness behind the push to treat banking as if it's some a life fundamental. Banks are surely convenient, but they come with tradeoffs. It's plausible that some people choose to be "unbanked" or "underbanked" because they don't like the risk profile attached to banking, and sometimes that's a totally rational decision. If you don't have a bank account, you don't have to wo…
Having grown up in a lower-middle class neighborhood and lived among people who the OP was speaking about, I can assure you that they were not "unbanked" or "underbanked" because of any sort of risk profile attached to banking. They didn't have checking accounts because they were generally unable to attain one.
I don't know what a "lower middle class neighborhood" is like but when I worked at McD's quite a few of my coworkers expressed "I don't trust banks" sentiment.
Re: Amazon Cash
#128Earlier quoted context omitted.
First job I had out of college, when it came to payday, my boss handed me a paycheck with pay stub and I folded it up and put it in my pocket. He told me that I was supposed to sign the check and hand it back to him, and then he'd pay me cash for the face value of the check. He seemed incredulous that I didn't know that immediately; he asked me if I was a trust fund kid and if this was my first job. I told him, a lit…
if you wanted to dodge taxes, you probably would go straight to cash in this case... checks leave a trail.
Or you'd dummy up some pay stubs and fake checks that no bank would ever cash, then make your employees give the paychecks back to you immediately and pay them face value for their paycheck in cash.
Re: Amazon Cash
#129Earlier quoted context omitted.
I can understand a variety of cash usages over credit for fee savings, privacy and getting around transaction limits. But I can't understand why anyone would use a check cashing place. Can you not get a bank account for free in the US? Even my grocery store runs a free banking service here with no minimum - you lose out on some things like teller withdrawal, but they have ATMs everywhere and unlimited debit transacti…
> Can you not get a bank account for free in the US? If you have good credit (which usually requires a well documented reliable income, and no outstanding unmaintained debt from say, a college education or medical condition), if have the $20 or so to spend to keep the account open and in good standing, if you have the time and patience to make sure you never accidentally overdraw or under-use (so as not to get hit wi…
I've never had a credit check for a checking account. They used to do these a long time back (and it was totally reasonable), but they don't really anymore.
Yes, account maintenance fees are lame, but there are banks that don't have these. They've only recently become widespread for your typical checking account. Banks are getting more aggressive since the myth that using banks somehow benefits the customer is dead (they no longer pay interest, and mostly just laugh when you complain).
For the other things, yes, if you want use your bank account to pay, you have to make sure it has money in it. Is that some sort of problem? Do you expect a bank account to be a license for free money, or this to just automatically handle itself? I don't get it. You say people want bank accounts but can't get them because they don't have the "time and patience" to manage them? Isn't that a good reason not to give them to them?
We do, in fact, have strict banking regulations and a federally-backed insurance program to protect depositors in mismanaged institutions.
I guess the point is that people always paint the U.S. as if it's some wasteland where we kick the teeth of everyone with a net worth < $1M. That's not the case. On further inspection, as in this thread, you'll find that many (though not all) such complaints are someone attempting to craft a sob story out of the fact that we don't live in a rainbow world where bank accounts magically fill themselves up.
Re: Amazon Cash
#130I think many people here are missing the (probable) point of this. If you're wondering "who could use such a service?" - then this service probably isn't for you. 7% of US households are unbanked, and 20% are underbanked(1). Many people are paid in cash, or simply cash their checks at Walmart or a check cashing place. The money never touches a bank account, and they don't have a credit card. Paying for things with ca…
This is a huge deal for places like India, Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh where the vast majority of people do not have a bank account from which they can get a Visa or Mastercard. Probably 85%+ of the population. Those who do have basic bank accounts (we're talking about the bulk of the population whose monthly salary is less than the local currency equivalent of $400 USD) can't get credit cards or are unwilling/una…
ECommerce is booming in Pakistan and almost all of it is on CoD. For those who have bank accounts, ATM cards usually double as debit cards. For those who are out of banking networks, telecom operators are offering branchless banking to mobile users across Pakistan.