Amazon says it is bringing Amazon PayCode, which allows customers to check out using cash at Western Union locations, to the US
Context & Ripple Effects
Amazon has been building card-free payment rails for years: Amazon Cash launched in 2017 to let shoppers load cash onto their Amazon balance at participating retailers, and the same year it crossed the Atlantic as Amazon Top Up in the UK. PayCode is the next step — instead of pre-loading a balance, customers check out and pay in cash at Western Union locations.
The move matters because it targets shoppers the card-based checkout excludes, and it follows a pattern Amazon kept extending later, including opening US checkout to Venmo in 2022. Each addition widens the funnel at the payment step, which is where unbanked and underbanked customers historically drop off.
First-order effects
- US shoppers without bank cards can now complete Amazon purchases in cash at Western Union locations, and Western Union's retail agent network gains a new transaction stream and foot traffic.
Second-order effects
- Retailers that host Amazon Cash balance top-ups now compete with Western Union as the cash-on-ramp, splitting the cash-paying customer between two Amazon channels.
- Rival marketplaces and payment providers face pressure to add non-card tender options of their own, since Amazon has demonstrated checkout conversion among cash-preferring shoppers is worth chasing.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, e-commerce checkout progressively decouples from bank-issued cards, and cash-access networks like Western Union's become strategic infrastructure in the competition for unbanked shoppers.
The trend: Amazon is steadily widening its payment rails beyond bank cards — cash balances, cash checkout, and wallet options — to capture shoppers the traditional card system leaves out.