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There is a EDIT: significant portion [0] of the population of the united states that is unbanked or underbanked and not able or willing to obtain credit cards.

There is a EDIT: significant portion [0] of the population of the united states that is unbanked or underbanked and not able or willing to obtain credit cards. This goes a long way into opening up a new market segment and/or allowing for cash to be used to pay for goods generally as local retailers may not carry the same diversity of products. [0]https://www.fdic.gov/householdsurvey/ https://www.fdic.gov/householdsurvey/

metaphorm 10y ago
prepaid cash/debit cards already exist though. Amazon wants to be in that market too?
- Nexxxeh 10y ago
  Do they not have fees attached in the US? In the UK, pre-paid cards are relatively expensive. £25 card usually costs £27+ and then there are potentially extra fees on top. I could definitely see people using this.
  - metaphorm 10y ago
    I'm not an expert on this market by any means, but I just checked what my own retail bank (Bank of America) offers [0]. It looks like there is no fee for putting money on the card and no fee for normal point of sale transactions (presumably including internet transaction). There are ways to get hit with fees while using this card, but it is also possible to use this to buy things on Amazon with no additional fees at all. [0] - https://prepaid.bankofamerica.com/CashPay/Home/Index?m=1 https://prepaid.bankofamerica.com/CashPay/Home/Index?m=1
    - Nexxxeh 10y ago
      Oh, I meant the prepaid cash-like Visa or Mastercard cards that you can pick up in supermarkets. Not a debit card from a bank.
- sailfast 10y ago
  There are a number of fees that can be attached to these cards that eat into the initial deposit. https://www.consumerfinance.gov/consumer-tools/prepaid-cards/understand-fees/ https://www.consumerfinance.gov/consumer-tools/prepaid-cards... Additional hypothesis: could be they also get the normal network fees waived for increasing foot traffic to the retail outlets?

metaphorm 10y ago

prepaid cash/debit cards already exist though. Amazon wants to be in that market too?

Nexxxeh 10y ago
Do they not have fees attached in the US? In the UK, pre-paid cards are relatively expensive. £25 card usually costs £27+ and then there are potentially extra fees on top. I could definitely see people using this.
- metaphorm 10y ago
  I'm not an expert on this market by any means, but I just checked what my own retail bank (Bank of America) offers [0]. It looks like there is no fee for putting money on the card and no fee for normal point of sale transactions (presumably including internet transaction). There are ways to get hit with fees while using this card, but it is also possible to use this to buy things on Amazon with no additional fees at all. [0] - https://prepaid.bankofamerica.com/CashPay/Home/Index?m=1 https://prepaid.bankofamerica.com/CashPay/Home/Index?m=1
  - Nexxxeh 10y ago
    Oh, I meant the prepaid cash-like Visa or Mastercard cards that you can pick up in supermarkets. Not a debit card from a bank.
sailfast 10y ago
There are a number of fees that can be attached to these cards that eat into the initial deposit. https://www.consumerfinance.gov/consumer-tools/prepaid-cards/understand-fees/ https://www.consumerfinance.gov/consumer-tools/prepaid-cards... Additional hypothesis: could be they also get the normal network fees waived for increasing foot traffic to the retail outlets?