Buy now pay later coming to Amazon
Amazon regularly top the charts here at MutualPoints, and judging by the overwhelmingly positive reviews they’ve recieved from you all (29 and counting!) are one of, if not the most popular retailer on MutualPoints. As one of the pioneers of ecommerce they have a reputation for innovation and new initatives, and they appear to have broken the mould once more by offering you the ability to shop on their site without a credit card and also to enable you to buy now and pay later.
Shop now, bill me later
Amazon have teamed up with a company called Bill Me Later. Bill Me Later are an American company that offers to simplify the payment process. They allow users to shop online without a credit card and also to pay later for your purchases. For instance when the product arrives there is a bill from Bill Me Later in the post that allows you to either pay in full or over time.
“We are committed to providing our customers with the greatest possible selection, whether that’s in our 40+ stores, or in the selection of payment methods we offer on the site,” said Matt Swann, vice president of payments at Amazon.com. “We believe our customers will appreciate having another convenient payment option when shopping on Amazon.com.”
When people use Bill Me Later for the first time, they enter their birth date and the last four digits of their Social Security number. The service does a quick credit check. If the customer is approved, he or she can purchase the item online and receive a bill in the mail.
The caveat
Now the observant amongst you may have noticed that I mentioned social security number in the previous paragraph, rather than say national insurance number. Unfortunately this is a deliberate mistake as the service is currently only available to American shoppers.
It sounds like a really nice service though and I’m sure it would encourage people to shop more often. Hopefully the service will eventually be offered to British consumers and you can take advantage.
Would this be a service you’d use?
July 11th, 2008 at 12:15 pm
I’m not sure more credit is what consumers need at the moment, but never mind that’s usually what they want.
The Americans are going to have to come up with an alternative to Social Security Number for us Brits if they want us to use their service.
July 11th, 2008 at 12:33 pm
Yes, that’s a good point regarding the credit situation. I presumed if it did come to the UK then national insurance would be used. It will be interesting to see what happens. I believe Amazon own a stake in Bill Me Later so they clearly like the service they provide.
July 11th, 2008 at 12:52 pm
Fair enough for peeps that have no idea about money. For big buys though like a washing machine or a computer it would be nice to spread the costs.