Online payment provider eBillme is rolling out a product called eBillMe Walk-In that will allow consumers without bank accounts or credit cards to shop online.
Consumers who opt for the eBillme Walk-In cash payment option will receive a bill for the amount due when they check out online. The order then goes into pending order status with the retailer, a procedure that is not uncommon at retail web sites.
Consumers take the bill to one of 75,000 bill payment centers�including 40,000 MoneyGram locations�and pay it just like they would a utility bill. The clerk accepts payment and keys it into the payment system payable to eBillme. EBillme records the payment, then notifies the retailer to fulfill the order. Consumers can find nearby payment locations by entering a ZIP code into a form at the retailer�s site.
Because the payment is in cash, eBillme guarantees payment. Merchants pay the standard eBillme fee of 1-1.5% of the transaction value.
EBillme is planning to market the service to consumers with a campaign that includes online ads and promotions at the bill payment centers, Samer Forzley, eBillme�s vice president of marketing, tells Internet Retailer.
Buy.com, No. 33 in the Internet Retailer Top 500 Guide, is offering the option to shoppers. "The new offering makes e-commerce more accessible and gives Buy.com shoppers another way to pay for their online purchases with cash. It also gives us an opportunity to attract a new demographic of shoppers,� says Jeff Wisot, vice president of marketing at Buy.com.
EBillme reports that the FDIC says there are 28 million Americans without bank accounts.
More than 800 e-retailers offer eBillme, an alternative to credit cards, as a payment option. Consumers who pay with eBillme in its traditional form receive a bill in their e-mail, which they then pay from their bank account to eBillme.
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