
Amazon Cash - prostoalex
https://www.amazon.com/b/?node=14583169011
======
tuna-piano
I 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 cash in similar ways is actually pretty common in other
countries. When booking an airline ticket in Indonesia, I was surprised that
there wasn't even an option for credit card payment - after clicking
"purchase", it gave me a code and said to go to the 7/11 equivalent (which
might have even been 7/11), give the counter my code and cash for the ticket.

[1] -
[https://www.fdic.gov/householdsurvey/](https://www.fdic.gov/householdsurvey/)

~~~
CocaKoala
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 little
defensively, that I had held several jobs previously and most of them just
used direct deposit.

Apparently all of his other employees had just been taking their paychecks to
a check-cashing place, and paying a fee to get cash. If he gave them cash,
then they could save the fee on their end and he didn't actually have to keep
money in the bank account that handled payroll, which I guess saved him some
fees on his end as well.

I definitely asked some pointed questions to figure out if it was a tax dodge,
though; it was kind of a sketchy business.

~~~
problems
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 transactions.

~~~
maxsilver
> 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 with costly fees).

Then sure, a bank account is "free" in the US.

If any of the above doesn't apply to you, then you might have some troubles.
And there are a lot of businesses that exist to take advantage of (typically
poor) people who have had troubles with real banks.

~~~
cookiecaper
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.

~~~
prutschman
There's a separate, parallel system of checking checks. My credit is in very
good shape, but there's a company out there that thinks somebody with my name
passed a bad check in a state where I don't reside on a bank account that was
no longer open when the transaction was made--indeed, the bank itself no
longer existed at the time.

I found this out when I went to try to open a joint account with a business
partner and got denied. We ended up opening the account at an institution
which I already used, instead.

------
mabbo
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 customers who need this service get something they couldn't
before- online shopping without a credit card, including the better selection
and price competition that online shopping offers. (Yes, it's sometimes
cheaper offline, but not always).

~~~
samstave
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!

~~~
crispyambulance
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.

~~~
rebuilder
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.

~~~
crispyambulance
Yeah, its not the devil. It is more or less a "refillable" gift card. It would
certainly be good for handling the occasional piggy-bank windfall (although a
coinstar machine is better for that).

I worry, however, about financial products like this that get aimed at people
who don't have bank accounts. They're a particularly vulnerable population.

~~~
samstave
Precieicyly what this target is. Simply a goal to fuck someone.

------
wscott
This is another round of the "Amazon vs Walmart" war. People without banks or
credit cards currently shop at Walmart. Now it is much easier for them to shop
at Amazon.

~~~
skookum
"Much easier than before" or "much easier than at Walmart"? I buy the former,
but I doubt that many of the cash-only customers shopping at Walmart live in
locations or lead lifestyles conducive to receiving regular package deliveries
easily. I'm skeptical that payment logistics are their biggest barrier to
Amazon shopping.

I suspect many of us on HN have a distorted view of how hassle-free online
shopping is because we live in buildings or neighborhoods where packages can
be left without signature with a high probability of making it to us and many
of us have the luxury of working from home on the odd day when we need to sign
for an expected delivery.

~~~
andrewfong
> I suspect many of us on HN have a distorted view of how hassle-free online
> shopping is because we live in buildings or neighborhoods where packages can
> be left without signature

That's what Amazon Locker is for. Not sure how widespread this is though.

I view this less as Amazon competing directly with Walmart than a Safeway or
CVS using Amazon to provide more value to its current customer base.

~~~
xraystyle
> That's what Amazon Locker is for.

Not sure if it's 100% accurate, but as an example, there doesn't seem to be a
single Amazon locker location in the entire state of Mississippi according to
Google Maps.

~~~
exhilaration
I just went to Amazon's locker search and plugged in the zip code for the
state capitol and the Jackson, MS city hall (largest city in MS) - no results
for either. I wonder why they're ignoring the state? We've got lockers in the
semi-rural part of Pennsylvania I live in.

------
protomyth
_11) What if I do not have a smartphone and want to use Amazon Cash?_

 _It is not necessary to have a smartphone to use Amazon Cash. You can use our
Print-at-Home option by visiting www.amazon.com /cash on a desktop browser and
selecting “Get your barcode”. After logging into your account, you will be
given an option to print out your Amazon Cash barcode which can be brought
into the store for scanning._

Nice. This solves the internet at the library / school problem for a whole
group of people. Still a lot of folks with the cheap LG phones for prepaid
service. If they expanded to allow bill paying it would be an interesting
challenge to Walmart.

[edit: also allows the "send me your code and I'll get you some money" like
many use Paypal for like parents sending money to college students]

~~~
ge96
Get it tattooed on your body. Or smart watch.

I wonder though if a paper copy is a vulnerability. Do they ask to verify your
ownership of the bar code for example "What is your pin?"

~~~
aembleton
Why would it be a risk? The barcode can only be used to deposit money, not
withdraw.

~~~
jedimastert
Amazon also said that about adding a credit card to someone else's account,
and that didn't work out too well.[1]

People are weirdly clever

[1][https://www.wired.com/2012/08/apple-amazon-mat-honan-
hacking...](https://www.wired.com/2012/08/apple-amazon-mat-honan-hacking/)

------
fluxem
"Would you like to buy some Itchy and Scratchy Money? Well it's money that's
made just for the park. And it works just like regular money, but it's, er.
fun." \- Simpsons

~~~
martin-adams
"We don't take Itchy & Scratchy Money"

------
xbeta
For those do not see a value in this idea - is because simply you are living
in a bubble. Lots of places in this world do not take credit cards.

In fact, in the center of the tech bubble - SF and if you happen to visit some
restaurants in Chinatown, they usually have a sign says "Cash Only". CC fees
are so high (even if you don't think it's that much) that those shops rather
not take any CC and save themselves from BS charges.

Please please please think, design, and build a product for a world that's not
in the bubble. A simple tech integration can adds huge potential value.

~~~
carlmungz
I agree with this sentiment. The other week I was speaking to one of the guys
behind mookh.com, a Kenyan mobile payment startup and he said underbanked
people needed solutions which catered to them in their current context.

------
kt9
I think the idea here is for amazon to allow customers to add cash balances to
their amazon account without amazon incurring the 2.9% credit card transaction
fee.

~~~
chillydawg
I think it's more about getting to the segment of customers who do not have
credit cards. There's no way amazon is paying the same fee as anyone else in
the world for credit card fees, they're the single biggest e-commerce site and
have almost certainly negotiated some substantial deals.

~~~
abalone
_> There's no way amazon is paying the same fee as anyone else in the world
for credit card fees_

I'm not so sure. Is there any actual evidence of large retailers negotiating
down interchange fees? Even Walmart resorted to legislative pressure to
regulate fees.

The power of network effects is strong. Retailers are reluctant to drop
support for consumer-preferred payment methods and lose that business. That
gives card networks a lot of negotiating power even with large merchants.

~~~
biot
In the late 90s, my rate was 2.75% and the site I was running was very small
potatoes. This era of 2.9% being considered standard despite additional
competition, greater efficiencies, and higher volume is basically price
gouging.

~~~
abalone
There's basically two reasons for that. One, 2.9% is only standard with
premium processors like Stripe and Square. They charge a premium markup over
interchange. You can still find "interchange plus" processors which will be
much more value priced, although they usually are not as easy to work with.

Two, the underlying interchange rates have risen since the 90s due to reward
cards. It's more expensive for merchants, but a lot of that goes into customer
pockets via reward programs, so it's somewhat debatable whether it qualifies
as price gouging since it's driven by consumer choice.

------
jccalhoun
I wonder if this is meant to compete with Wal-Mart's "Pay with cash" where you
order online and can go to a physical store to pay with cash and they ship it
to you? [https://www.walmart.com/cp/Pay-with-
Cash/1094025](https://www.walmart.com/cp/Pay-with-Cash/1094025)
[https://techcrunch.com/2012/04/26/walmart-adds-pay-with-
cash...](https://techcrunch.com/2012/04/26/walmart-adds-pay-with-cash-for-
online-shoppers-at-walmart-com/)

------
aluhut
Meanwhile it's still impossible to pay for audbile from/though amazon...

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

~~~
redial
Bar codes are probably cheaper for Amazon, as they don't have to make a card,
transport it, store it and sell it.

~~~
wyldfire
Retailers like Amazon sell those cards wholesale at less than the face value.
There's some overhead too but I would wager that's covered by a gift card
distributor in consideration for markup.

------
bahmboo
Isn't this just same old gift card model but now with ability to manage
balance online? Also riding the float is nothing new. There is no "interest"
anymore. Opportunity cost, sure. This is a rational iteration on the status
quo and looks to be step in right direction for consumer.

------
magikbum
Just to point out if you add $50 on this service over the next month or so you
get a bonus $10 added to your account as a digital credit:
[https://www.amazon.com/gp/browse.html?node=16219202011&pf_rd...](https://www.amazon.com/gp/browse.html?node=16219202011&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=merchandised-
search-1&pf_rd_r=GBYT080T492S1TKPTV3K&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=54ed8a78-09bc-41eb-
af01-0d842bd7ffdf&pf_rd_i=14583169011)

~~~
pharrlax
Yeah, but

>To use your credit, simply purchase an eligible product from one of the
following digital categories: Appstore, Kindle books, Digital Video, Digital
Music, Digital Software, and Digital Video Games

No physical goods.

------
webkike
If this is implemented as an in-store pickup location with a little terminal
that allows you to buy items with cash anonymously, I'd love the concept.

~~~
eximius
So, a regular store.

You just have to go to the right store instead of a 'pickup' store.

Or use this but ship to a PO box.

~~~
webkike
The selection Amazon offers is far greater than what can be offered sometimes
by an entire small town.

------
tnolet
Many people mentioning countries like India and Indonesia here, but even in
Germany (and specifically Berlin) Cash is very much King. Even for larger
purchases. It's one of surprising things for many people visiting.

------
gnicholas
> _Amazon Cash transactions are non-refundable, except as required by law.
> Learn more from the Amazon.com Balance and Amazon.com Gift Card Terms and
> Conditions._

Note that the referenced T&Cs do not specifically address the circumstances
under which refunds are available. For example, in certain states (CA?) you
are entitled to a cash refund after the balance of an account drops below a
specified threshold ($5-10?). It would be useful to know what all of these
exceptions are, so that people can make an informed decision.

------
losteverything
I 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.

------
ethbro
Isn't this Amazon taking a page out of Jack Ma's playbook? Never stop
vertically integrating. You have to outscale everyone if you want to leverage
that into slimmer margins.

[https://techcrunch.com/2015/06/25/alibaba-digital-bank-
myban...](https://techcrunch.com/2015/06/25/alibaba-digital-bank-mybank/)

~~~
spangry
If taken at face value, that's what their FAQ suggests. I'm partially
reposting a comment I made above, since you seem to be the only other person
here who is thinking along the same lines as I am.

 _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?
Assuming the answer is 'yes', it means Amazon is looking to get a slice of
that sweet sweet payment intermediary industry pie. But more importantly, they
get these retailers' data for cheap and can figure out exactly where the
marginal price for it lies. Think about it. These retailers might be paying
Visa 2.5% transaction processing fees. Along comes Amazon who offer, say 2%
fees (which might be roughly the rate they've negotiated for themselves with
large payment processors).

Using CVS as an example:

Amazon start offering CVS customers varying rebates / fixed percentage
discounts like: anything you buy from CVS with 'Amazon Bucks' only deducts 95%
of your sales docket total from your 'Amazon not a bank account'. CVS will
want their money either at point of sale or, at the very latest, through an
end of day reconciliation. So in the interests of 'fraud protection' they will
need to provide sales data to Amazon for those purchases. This is bad for CVS
because:

\- Amazon would be able to see what CVS customers are buying, for what price
and in what combination. That would make it pretty easy for Amazon to
gradually pick off CVS customers.

\- I imagine Amazon would probably loss-lead for a while until they've become
the dominant form of payment. If a large enough percentage of CVS' sales were
settled in Amazon bucks (which Amazon can incentivise through rebates and
discounts, hence the initial loss-lead), it puts Amazon in a position where
they can 'tax' one of their retail competitors by jacking up 'transaction
processing' fees.

I might be totally misunderstanding the situation here, and it's just a case
of the FAQ being poorly worded. Otherwise, large retailers who sign up to this
are committing a fatal strategic mistake (although I imagine the bean-counters
would love it, not realising the long-term implications).

~~~
ethbro
That's one way of looking at it. And definitely a plausible move for Amazon
for the reasons you outlined.

Especially if the long term strategic goal of Amazon lockers / physical points
of presence is to morph into 711-style "80% of what you need in life". Which
they could naturally have delivered to you within an hour.

An alternative thread, which I'll admit to cribbing from someone else's
comment on the "Betterment" HN post, is that this is about the other side of
the game (or even lower on the food chain): becoming a bank.

Assets under management affords the opportunity to do everything else. And it
makes it impossible for anyone else to cut you out, once you scale to a "too
big to ignore" size.

Amazon payments from Amazon accounts? Suddenly you're saving credit card fees
+ making interest on balances. Which you can roll into being that much cheaper
than Walmart.

If you get assets stored under your control, that's the ultimate vertical
integration.

~~~
spangry
Agreed. Though the crazy thing is that they can do both simultaneously. If
this is what they intend, it's a brilliant move on Amazon's part. It may very
well be that in the not too distant future we'll all be using Amazon bucks in
the Amazon company town (the entire world?)

OK that might be a bit too sci-fi. Still, interesting to think about....

------
ge96
Edit: Pretty cool how it works the barcode, wonder how it is adopted. I
remember using PayPal for the first time a few years back, where you used your
phone number and at the time only Home Depot would have it. Buying those
peanuts and ice tea.

But is there a fee? (Says no fee)

I made mistakes, can't get bank account right now. So I use pre-paid services
or use PayPal accounts/Bitcoin (laughing on Bitcoin part, have yet to use it
and don't have much of it).

Also use a card from my job, one of those types of cards that you get working
at a factory or whatever.

It sucks when you have to pay a fee, like the PayPal Prepaid cards are pretty
cool but you lose ~$5.00 a month.

I kinda wish that m-pesa thing was in the US. But why too, I seem to do more
harm than good by spreading what money I have in various places.

Ahhh... read some more it's their money. Still, I wouldn't mind potentially
having another place to store money. Even if it can only be used at Amazon.

------
huangc10
> 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...?

~~~
sokoloff
The use case is that you have cash (literally folding money) in your hand and
the store is the place to turn that physical cash into electronic credit in
your Amazon Balance.

~~~
ryanSrich
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?

~~~
hirsin
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.

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

------
jedberg
This is really brilliant. It's the first step in serving the unbanked or
underbanked. The next step after this is to allow people to mail their checks
to Amazon and have the full amount show up as a balance in their Amazon Cash
account, thereby skipping the fees check cashing places charge.

------
VikingCoder
Isn't this also a way to "wire" funds to someone?

Can't I give you my barcode, and you put cash in it?

~~~
yannyu
Theoretically possible, but then the money is stuck in Amazon-land, right?

~~~
ge96
Then you buy computers that keep their value like Apple and sell them for cash

\- sorry I just realized you would have gone in a circle -

but that's a pain/lose money. I agree though that sucks, being stuck there.
Not a huge Amazon shopper myself. Still they do have nearly everything so
inevitably I will more than likely return.

------
dustinmoris
Duplicate, original thread is here:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14023293](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14023293)

------
thinkling
Posted just earlier:

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14023293](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14023293)

------
rajeshp1986
I think many people are not realizing the fact that this is a master stroke by
Amazon to break into the payments & wallet market. Wallet's are going big in
Asia especially India. Softbank backed PayTm is leading this right now. Amazon
could turn this easily and get a major market share by pushing payments in
India.

------
harshaw
So, 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.

------
clamprecht
This 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.

~~~
djrogers
You can actually refill your account in person with cash too, it's just that
credit card reloads are more convenient for most people buying $7 caffeinated
milkshakes (no judgement, I love me some frap)

------
pronik
If I'm not mistaken, this is exactly what barzahlen.de is doing in Germany.
I'm not really clear on the reasons for such a thing existing in Germany, but
if you want to buy online for cash, you can.

------
busterarm
The typical view of Amazon is that they're putting B&M businesses out of it.

What's the value to these stores in doing this? I feel like I'm missing
something obvious here.

~~~
blastofpast
Getting people to physically visit their B&M store, for whatever reason, is
hugely valuable.

~~~
jccalhoun
yep. foot traffic. go to CVS to do this amazon thing and pick up some candy or
something while you are there.

~~~
protomyth
I do wonder if Amazon Pay is a next step for these folks. I cannot believe
Amazon will not have an answer Google and Apple.

------
Grue3
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 account and you have to go fill
it up again.

~~~
prostoalex
Seems to be somewhat common in Eastern Europe, where payment kiosks are
located at many convenience stores. In a card-less society they're used for
utility bills, mobile operator account top-up, settling government fees and
fines, buying lotto tickets, etc. Amazon would be just another option on a
kiosk like this
[https://i.ytimg.com/vi/qYEh0TtsW5c/maxresdefault.jpg](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/qYEh0TtsW5c/maxresdefault.jpg)

~~~
Grue3
Yes, these things. After you make an order in an online store, you pay for it
using a kiosk. But Amazon Cash requires you to have money on your Amazon
account before you can make an order. Not a single online store in Russia
works like this.

------
PeterStuer
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.

------
koolba
Any idea what the incentive is for the stores to be a part of this? Explicit
cut of the total dollar amount, marketing to appear "hip" by partnering with
Amazon, or betting on the extra foot traffic driving immediate sales?

Is there any way to go back to cash? It references the transcations as being
non-refundable. Does that mean it's more of a "purchase" of Amazon.com fun
bucks (i.e. scrip) rather the depositing a balance?

------
wrs
If you wish you had this for your company, there is already a service that
lets people do online shopping (anywhere, not just at Amazon) and pay with
cash in their neighborhood: [http://paynearme.com/](http://paynearme.com/)

------
techaddict009
Is there no COD option in US? Cash on delivery is too common in India!

------
ComputerGuru
Why go through all this hassle and confuse the heck out of everyone when
really all you're doing is pre-making a gift card that is immediately added to
the account balance?

Just go to Walmart, buy a gift card with cash, and use it.

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

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

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mrb
From a technical viewpoint, Amazon Cash _is_ a private currency, pegged to the
USD. The currency is spendable across multiple companies (Amazon, CVS
Pharmacy®, Speedway, Sheetz, Kum & Go, D&W Fresh Market, Family Fare
Supermarkets, and VG's Grocery). Amazon can "issue" it by crediting Amazon
Cash accounts. Etc.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Private_currency](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Private_currency)

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djrogers
No, this is not a private currency - Amazon is not issuing currency, you are
depositing US dollars into an account.

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mrb
You are wrong. Think about it. Tell me what distinguishes Amazon Cash from a
private currency.

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djrogers
It represents literal $USD 100% of the time.

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dsr_
How long until Amazon Cash is accepted for illegal transactions?

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arrty88
This is basically a rip off of level up's app/idea

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asclepi
Apple has been offering a similar "iTunes Pass" feature since 2014 [1].

[1] [https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT203021](https://support.apple.com/en-
us/HT203021)

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Jabanga
Increasing the utility of cash is very important to push back against the
seemingly inexorable trend toward all private information being collated in a
few larger data centres and susceptible to mass surveillance.

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nlawalker
You can also do this with Coinstar machines, which offer conversion of
arbitrary amounts of cash (coinage or bills) to multiple kinds of gift cards,
including Amazon, for no fee.

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ben1040
Maybe it's just my area, but I've found fewer Coinstar machines around as of
late (vs grocery stores, etc that have begun to run their own machines instead
and cut out Coinstar as the middleman).

The few that do exist seem to be in WalMart locations. WalMart doesn't want
the competition, so those Coinstar machines had the Amazon gift card options
disabled.

