Amazon today launched a new type of financial service called Amazon Cash, which targets customers who live outside the reach of the financial services industry, such as people without bank accounts or credit cards, who rely on cash for their transactions.
Believe it or not, cash is still the king in many countries, and even in developed countries like the UK and the US, a significant portion of daily transactions are cash-based.
“Estimates from the FDIC 2015 survey indicate that 7.0 percent of households in the United States were unbanked in 2015. This proportion represents approximately 9.0 million households. An additional 19.9 percent of U.S. households (24.5 million) were underbanked, meaning that the household had a checking or savings account but also obtained financial products and services outside of the banking system.”
What is Amazon Cash?
Amazon Cash lets you add cash to your Amazon Balance at thousands of participating convenience, grocery, and drug stores by purchasing and automatically claiming an Amazon.com Gift Card to your account.
To use, visit a participating store, show the cashier your barcode to scan, and then pay the amount you want to add to your Amazon Balance.
It’s simple, quick, and there are no fees. Your Amazon Balance can be used to shop for millions of eligible physical products and digital content. Learn more from the Amazon.com Balance and Amazon.com Gift Card
The “unbanked” still comprise a sizeable population in the United States, and its easy to say that number will be much bigger in developing countries and in several other parts of the world. This segment has always relied on cash, and as a result has always gone to brick and mortar retailers. The company’s new service is squarely aimed at this group, as it allows users to just walk into a store, show a barcode to the cashier, give them the cash and add it to the user’s Amazon Balance.
Once done, you can now use the cash to buy from Amazon what you’d normally buy at a local retail store.
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