Greetings from Seattle,

Founder and President here of Epay Options LLC, a start-up payment service provider (PSP) aggressively positioning to leverage an e-payments framework aimed at developing market share for cash-based e-commerce: Enabling cash as a purchase option for goods and services sold via the Internet and across other electronic channels.

We conduct an online survey to get a general idea of the market from the end users perspective. Out of 1200 responses we got a solid 63% approval rating, the respondants found the application appealing and an impressive 67% said they knew someone whom the application would appeal to.

There has been a long felt yet currently unmet need for cash-based Internet e-commerce transactions.
The US Census reported in 2003 that, cash transactions in 2000 amounted to 48.8 billion dollars, 49.9 billion in 2002, and 46.4 billion is projected for 2005. Accordingly cash-based e-commerce transactions are a US multi-billion dollar market that remains virtually untapped.

Cash is the most prominent medium of exchange especially for transactions under 10 dollars, notwithstanding its eminence, brand equity, and mass appeal, cash does not rank among methods of payment driving e-commerce. As consumers become better educated about shopping online they will inherently look for viable payment alternatives that offer increased security, privacy, lower cost and flexibility.

The ability to use cash to purchase Internet goods and services would offer tremendous opportunities where security or anonymity are a concern, where banking challenges persist (e.g., bad credit, no credit, no checking account) or where ones credit or debit card is mispalced, stolen, maxed-out, expired, etc.

Through a venture called 7dream.com and to the tune of 9 million dollars, 7-Eleven has successfully leveraged cash-based e-commerce in Japan since 2000. Apparently 7-Eleven has not figured out how to leverage cash-based e-commerce state-side; America and Japan have traditionally had different ways of accomplishing the exact same things and cash-based e-commerce is no exception.

We are persuaded that e-merchants are prepared to cash in on cash-based e-commerce as soon as a viable application presents itself. We are aggressively moving forward with ours and are actively seeking to present a unique opportunity to the right party. If you are innovative and have a strong background in web application integration, SOA, etc.,let us hear from you.


Regards,
CT