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Amazon Launches Amazon Cash, a Way To Shop Its Site Without a Bank Card (techcrunch.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the under-the-radar dept.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from TechCrunch: Amazon this morning announced the launch of Amazon Cash, a new service that allows consumers to add cash to their Amazon.com balance by showing a barcode at a participating retailer, then having the cash applied immediately to their online Amazon account. The service will support adding any amount between $15 and $500 in a single transaction, Amazon says. Amazon Cash will be available at brick-and-mortar retailers across the U.S., including CVS Pharmacy, Speedway, Sheetz, Kum & Go, D&W Fresh Market, Family Fare Supermarkets, and VG's Grocery. Other stores will be added in the future. The advantage to Amazon Cash is that, as soon as you checkout at the register, the funds are available in the customer's Amazon account. There are also no fees -- something that can't be said of all the prepaid cards on the market. However, Amazon isn't selling "Amazon Cash"-branded Gift Cards at stores -- instead, customers visit Amazon.com/cash from web or mobile, or search for "amazon cash" in the Amazon mobile app to access their Amazon Cash barcode. They can also navigate to "Manage Gift Card" balance to find the Amazon Cash barcode, as it's effectively connected Amazon's gift card functionality. That same barcode can be reused any time the customer wants to add more cash to their Amazon account. It can also be added to your Wallet app on iOS or as a homescreen shortcut on Android.

4 of 35 comments (clear)

  1. The Allure of Cash in society today by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Is anonymity, not ubiquity.

  2. So....gift card? by keith_nt4 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Based only on this description it sounds a lot like a new featured added to the existing gift card functionality already available. So it's not "amazon cash" it's "amazon adds bar code to gift cards". So effectively this is "native content" or maybe just really poorly written. Not sure which.

    --
    "UNIX is very simple, it just needs a genius to understand its simplicity." -Dennis Ritchie
  3. Reaching the "unbanked" by zaft · · Score: 4, Insightful

    An easy way to reach the large # of Americans that don't actually have bank accounts or credit. Smart.

  4. Not cash by malx · · Score: 3, Insightful

    "The advantage to Amazon Cash is that, as soon as you checkout at the register, the funds are available in the customer's Amazon account. "

    Well it's not cash then, it's credit.

    If it were cash, having bought it at a store it would not be registered to your account until you do something to pay it in - and so you could transfer it to a third party and thence onwards into general circulation. If you can't do that, it's not cash, it's credit.