PayPal’s Continues In–Store Push with InComm Reload Product (Dec. 13, 2012)
Dec. 13, 2012
PayPal Inc. has been pushing hard into brick-and-mortar retail this year—and now the online payment giant is giving users yet another reason to get into stores. The company—in partnership with third-party distributor and technology provider InComm—has unveiled its new PayPal My Cash Card, which enables users to fund their PayPal accounts via cash by purchasing a reload card at any of 30,000 retail locations across the U.S.
The cards will come in fixed denominations of $50 and $100, as well as variable denominations ranging from $20 to $500, and will be available at CVS, Rite Aid, Fred’s Super Dollar, Family Dollar and Dollar General stores—the last of which will comprise 10,000 of the card’s initial 30,000 retail locations. After a customer buys a card, he or she can log onto the My Cash Card Website to load the funds; cardholders who don’t already have a PayPal account will be prompted to create one. The cards include a $3.95 activation fee and there is a $500 daily and $4,000 monthly load limit. The card eventually will be available at 60,000 retailers across the county, InComm said.
“Many of our 117 million users have told us that they love using their PayPal accounts online, with mobile devices and in-store locations but are looking for additional options to keep it funded,” Patrick Gauthier, head of emerging retail services, PayPal, wrote on the company’s blog. “The PayPal My Cash Card is perfect for consumers who prefer to use cash, but want flexibility to spend their money however they want to spend it.”
PayPal has been championing flexibility for its users for some time now. This year has seen PayPal ink in-store payment deals with Discover and more than a dozen retailers, including Home Depot. And last month, the company launched a pilot in Australia for a cloud-based mobile app to enable in-store payments, along with a program in Amsterdam to affix QR codes to shop windows, which shoppers can then scan with mobile devices to make online purchases.
