Amazon have partnered with Western Union to set up Amazon PayCodes. The service is designed to bring ecommerce into the reach of consumers who don’t have access to traditional banking services enabling them to shop on Amazon and pay in cash.
Amazon PayCodes are being offered initially in 10 countries – Chile, Colombia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Kenya, Malaysia, Peru, Philippines, Taiwan and Thailand. Each have their own landing page on Amazon enabling consumers to quickly find products that ship to their own country.
Western Union’s platform processes the complex foreign exchange, settlement and money movement requirements for international e-commerce transactions. For consumers the process is made as easy as possible, after selecting PayCode on the Amazon.com checkout page, customers will be sent a code, along with instructions on how to pay in person at a participating Western Union agent location.
When a consumer visits a Western Union agent location and notifies the agent they they wish to pay for an Amazon order, they will be asked for their Amazon PayCodes code and photo ID. The ID must match the information provided during checkout on Amazon. The agent will take payment and provide a receipt followed by a payment confirmation email from Amazon. Finally Amazon will send a shipment notification once the order has shipped.
“Amazon is committed to enabling customers anywhere in the world to shop on Amazon.com, and a big part of that is to allow customers to pay for their cross-border online purchases in a way that is most convenient for them. Amazon PayCode leverages the reach of Western Union to make cross-border online shopping a reliable and convenient experience for customers who do not have access to international credit cards, or prefer to pay in cash.”
– Ben Volk, Director, Payment Acceptance and Experience, Amazon
As an Amazon merchant, you’ll never see the Amazon PayCode service on the sell side – what you might see, if you ship to the 10 countries where Amazon PayCode is supported, is an increase in orders as those previously unable to buy online start to purchase on Amazon with cash.
