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Comment by huangc10 | Hacker News Reader

> Choose to receive your barcode via text message or print-at-home. Bring this barcode into any participating store and show it to the cashier to add money to your Amazon Balance.

As a customer I don't really understand this concept. Why do I bring my barcode to one of the stores (CVS, etc.) to reload my Amazon Balance...?

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So you can add cash to your amazon account instead of using a credit card or bank account. Some people don't have credit cards or banks accounts.

The use case is that you have cash (literally folding money) in your hand and the store is the place to turn that physical cash into electronic credit in your Amazon Balance.

Maybe I'm being obtuse, but why would anyone want to do that? Could you not use a credit card, debit card, or gift card?

28% of Americans don't have a credit card. 7% don't have a bank account. Those numbers are massively higher in countries that are more cash reliant like India. In 2014 20% of the world was "unbanked", a good search term if you want to do more research.

To add to this... This is probably a direct jab at Walmart, where a large portion of the unbanked / underbanked shop.

Growing up poor meant that we never saw credit cards. That meant that we had to be very creative when it came to pay online. Something like Amazon Cash would have been amazing to have!

A fair number of folks still pay bills with money orders since they don't have credit cards, checks, or debit cards and can just pay cash for the money order.

Gift cards might be closer, but this has less waste.

Maybe one has had a bankruptcy in the last seven years. Or is a 13-year-old. Or doesn't have an SSN.

These people may not have the credit for credit cards or a bank account with a debit card (again, bad credit or maybe even just distrust of the banking system).

As others have pointed out, this is basically buying a gift card and applying it to your account in one step instead of two.

What if you don't have any of those things?

Won't they miss out on all the perks of credit cards (i.e. Discover cash back rebates, airline/hotel miles, etc )

Yes–tragically, the poor never even get their SkyMiles.

Or rewards programs effectively making every purchase 1.5% cheeper than they would in cash. The unbanked and underbanked have no access to either. Another example of the "poverty tax" that many people have to pay. Your comment makes you sound kinda like an asshole.

I get that part but my local grocery store sells Amazon gift cards in $10 to $50 denominations. You can buy these with cash just fine and there is no fee that the store charges and there is no tax. A $25 card costs $25 cash.

Dunno if this varies by area.

It's harder to add those to your account - this barcode would do it automatically.

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