back to article BezosBux: Amazon gets into scrip game with Cash scheme

Amazon has introduced a payment system that will let customers buy its products without the need for a bank card. The Amazon Cash system is partnering with brick and mortar retailers to collect cash payments from customers, which are then credited towards an Amazon account. The funds can be used to make purchases on Amazon, …

  1. Barry Rueger

    No Paper Trail?

    Amazon Cash could have a particular appeal to ... those who, ahem… may not want to leave a paper trail of their financial activities.

    Since shopping on Amazon requires an e-mail address and a shipping address, I'd argue that you're generating a pretty solid paper trail despite buying your gift card with cash.

    Better to use your wad of cash to buy off a guy in the alley - stuff that has "fallen off the back of a truck."

    1. fishman

      Re: No Paper Trail?

      Use a proxy or vpn to access a free email account. Ship packages to an Amazon Locker. Enter an emailed 6 digit code to open the locker and retrieve the packages.

      No paper trail. However, there are probably security cameras at the Amazon Locker facility.

      1. Rich 11

        Re: No Paper Trail?

        However, there are probably security cameras at the Amazon Locker facility.

        Offer a kid a tenner to go pick up the package for you. Wear a disguise. Kill the kid and dissolve the body in the acid you've just bought online.

        1. Robert Carnegie Silver badge
          Unhappy

          Re: No Paper Trail?

          "Kill the kid and dissolve the body in the acid you've just bought online."

          This gets six upvotes??

          This isn't Reddit!

          1. Captain Scarlet Silver badge

            Re: No Paper Trail?

            That would be considered a very tame Reddit comment at best.

    2. Lusty
      Holmes

      Re: No Paper Trail?

      Buying stuff off the back of a lorry is the opposite of what these people are doing! The guy selling dodgy goods off said lorry, or drugs, or guns, or, well you get the idea needs to launder the money and get it into official channels again. Amazon have just created a laundry service for these people, or part of one at least. given everything you can buy through amazon it would be trivial to turn into legit cash again through a "business" in the marketplace. Actually shipping goods about is unnecessary in this scenario since you're the seller and buyer.

      I'm just guessing of course your honour.

    3. DontFeedTheTrolls
      FAIL

      Re: No Paper Trail?

      <I>Since shopping on Amazon requires an e-mail address and a shipping address, I'd argue that you're generating a pretty solid paper trail despite buying your gift card with cash.</I>

      1) email address - not hard to get a free email address from many places

      2) Amazon Locker is a delivery point in a public location - yes, there will be a trail, but no ownership. Collect+ can also be used, although involves an interaction with the shop assistant be the recipient

  2. kmac499

    Wake up Banks

    Interesting:-

    So to pay money into an acount you generate a paying-in slip in a digital form, and use any participating partner to accept the cash.

    All we need to do is add a paying out barcode, call it an e-cheque, then by adding a blockchain any local shop could be a bank branch. Handy with the number of banks closing down in rural areas.

    Also get's around the problem of sending the grandkids their birthday postal order.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Wake up Banks

      Except, Amazon will be very keen to keep this looking like a scheme where you buy online gift cards for yourself ... if they make it look like a bank then they'll get regulated like a bank and I'd suspect that they aren't interested in getting into that sort of thing

      1. BazzF

        Re: Wake up Banks

        I think Amazon would absolutely *love* to get into banking, if it wasn't for all those perky regulations.

        They'd have the cash at both ends of the transaction.

        1. Robert Carnegie Silver badge

          PayPal didn't like "those perky regulations" either.

          I am pleasantly amused that they are perky.

    2. paulf
      Boffin

      Re: Wake up Banks

      There's two problems with that plan:

      1. Paying in cheques. If they're not paid into a branch of the receiving bank they have to be sent to one. In the UK the Post Office can be used for many simple bank related things (cash in/out and cheques in, in most cases) - cash is easy as that can be done via a debit (ATM) card and POs tend to be set up for cash handling anyway so it almost becomes a shared branch. Cheques get put in the post and can take 10+ days to clear. Banks are working on a way to do this via a photo taken by their banking app but it's not widely available yet (and assumes possession of a smart phone with decent data coverage in such rural areas).

      2. Large quantities of cash.

      Shops tend to be geared up for mostly receiving cash and handing out stuff in exchange. Disrupt either the balance between the two or reverse that flow in any significant way and the shop ends up paying more to handle the cash. It can work to the shop's advantage - e.g. cashback when paying with a Debit card means they reduce the amount of cash in the registers at the end of the day but a smaller rural shop could run out of cash if there are a lot of cashback requests. Another issue: shops usually like to bank their takings on a regular basis (cash is a target for criminals) and that requires a bank which is set up with the security and processes to handle large amounts of cash.

      In short it may help out a few rural people who need to deposit their birthday money or get a tenner out but isn't a practical replacement for a bank branch with respect to cash handling.

    3. Mage Silver badge

      Re: sending the grandkids their birthday postal order.

      You've been able to txt, email or post an Amazon "gift card" for ages to anyone. It's just text. It works for ANYONE. So if some third party gets a copy and uses it first, it's gone.

      Gift cards are a problem, especially ones that expire or businesses that go bust. The money should be in escrow and interest applied to the card code.

  3. phuzz Silver badge

    So, how long until they only pay their workers using this?

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    That's nice, I'm sure the criminal fraternity will be most pleased that they can spend their ill gotten gains at Amazon now.

  5. Duncan Macdonald

    Amazon Gift Cards

    Why not just use Amazon gift cards - they are available at most major supermarkets and have been for years. I use them to avoid giving Amazon my credit card details.

    1. User McUser

      Re: Amazon Gift Cards

      That's exactly what they're doing. From the article:

      Once the barcode has been scanned, the cash is converted into an Amazon gift card that is credited to the customer's account.

      I guess the difference is that they'll save a few cents by not using an actual physical gift card?

  6. Mage Silver badge
    Coat

    Barcodes?

    Barcodes are just numbers, or even text.

    They are easily replicated.

    They don't work with lots of phones.

    Can the digits of the code just be typed in?

    It seems just like a variation of their existing schemes, I can't see how it helps money laundering or anonymisation. The first would be illegal to help and Amazon isn't interested in the second.

  7. Daniel Hall
    Meh

    UK retailers?

    Are you able to create a sub-heading for articles that arent to do with the UK so I know to avoid them.

    eg.

    business-> US

    Getting tired of reading through articles to find I get most of the way through before realising the article would only benefit me if I was a US citizen.

    I fail to be able to marry up:

    "CVS Pharmacy, Family Fare Supermarkets, D&W Fresh Market, VG's Grocery, Kum & Go, Speedway and Sheets"

    with:

    theregister.CO.UK ?

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