Two years since its launch in the U.S., Amazon Cash, Amazon’s reloadable prepaid card, faces adoption hurdles.
The payment method initially rolled out as a feature to help unbanked or underbanked customers (those who don’t have bank accounts or don’t rely on their bank accounts for a majority of their transactions) shop on Amazon. To use Amazon Cash, customers log into their Amazon accounts and get a personalized barcode that they can use as a debit card to shop online and reload at participating physical stores. Now, Amazon has other plans in the works: Amazon Cash is being touted as part of a possible menu of solutions for cash-paying customers who want to shop at Amazon Go stores. The company said Wednesday that it will begin accepting cash at Amazon Go stores amid criticism and legal challenges to the formerly cashierless stores. Without offering specifics, Steve Kessel, Amazon’s svp of physical stores, mentioned Amazon Cash among a series of payment methods the company plans to extend with its physical stores.