A recent partnership involving PaymentVision and PayNearMe Inc. is enabling consumers to use cash to pay for online purchases and bills at 7-Eleven Inc. convenience stores, PaymentVision, a Gaithersburg, Md.-based electronic payment services provider, announced Nov. 8.
Participating billers include such online merchants as Facebook Inc. and Amazon.com LLC.
To pay a bill or for a purchase with cash, consumers first set up the payment on the online merchant’s website as though they were making a payment online, says Dean Fees, executive vice president of sales at PaymentVision, a subsidiary of Autoscribe Corp. When checking out, consumers choose the PayNearMe payment option displayed on the website, Fees adds.
The consumer then prints a PayNearMe paper slip and bring that slip to their nearby 7-Eleven, says Danny Shader, founder and CEO of Mountain View, Calif.-based PayNearMe.
Consumers present the receipt to the sales clerk, who scans the barcode and accepts the payment as if the consumer was making a regular purchase
PayNearMe’s software is integrated into 7-Eleven’s point-of-sale system, so “we are immediately notified when a payment is made,” Shader says. PayNearMe either may send online merchants and billers the payment information immediately or through a daily notification batch, he adds.
7-Eleven settles with PayNearMe over the automated clearinghouse network, Shader says. PayNearMe then settles with PaymentVision over the ACH network and PaymentVision pays the merchant, he explains.
PaymentVision charges consumers a service fee to make the cash payment. The charge varies based on payment amount, with the lowest fee at $3.99 and the highest at $5.99, Shader says.
Participating online merchants pay PaymentVision based on volume, Fees says. Because consumers pay by cash, the payment is guaranteed to the biller, and there are no issues related to fraud, charge-backs or bounced checks, Fees notes.
A market does exist for this type of program, Gwenn Bézard, research director at Boston-based Aite Group LLC, tells PaymentsSource.
“Many consumers choose to pay bills in person with cash, checks or money orders because they either do not have a bank account or prefer not to use cards,” he says.
Moreover, “PayNearMe is bridging the gap with online payments and walk-in bill payments,” Bézard says. However, the company may face competition from bigger industry players such as Western Union, he notes.
Both the merchant and consumer benefit from the ability to pay with cash, but 7-Eleven also benefits because consumers may end up buying other items while in the store, Bézard contends.
The main challenge for both PaymentVision and PayNearMe is getting the word out, Bézard says. Overall, “it is a matter of marketing the program and properly raising awareness,” he says.
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