AMonline.com reports from a white paper by Prof. Michael L. Kasavana of Michigan State University on rising consumer preferences for cashless purchasing from vending machines.

While some parts of the vending industry already accept card payment systems, widespread interest in expanded opportunities for cashless transactions are beginning to become more prevalent. Innovative payment technologies, designed to reshape vending transactions, have emerged and are being adopted at an unprecedented rate.

Glenbrook's Carol Coye Benson has learned that several major consumer brands are working together to launch PayPerPal, a new "account to account" transfer offering that turns those small, handy, paper-based yellow pads into "order to pay" documents suitable for making purchases at local convenience stores or for getting books out of local libraries.

PayPerPal is reportedly also in discussions with several major airlines who believe there's a new business case with substantial downstream revenue derived from recycling new PayPerPal tickets into Starbucks coffee cups.

In the ecommerce space, sources tell Glenbrook that PayPerPal's unique faxable format will enable sellers to quickly verify the validity of the payment instructions, enabling timely fulfillment.

"We're excited about PayPerPal," said Glenbrook's Allen Weinberg. "We think it's especially attactive to aging baby boomers who can especially relate to paper-based solutions."

One innovative New York-based financial institution is reportedly planning an Overnight PayPerPal service -- remotely printing, stuffing, and overnight express mailing the PayPerPal page to anyone in the continental US. Once received, the shipping label combined with a special PayPerPal code enables remote cash withdrawals at any nearby ATM, provided there's a camera present.

PayPerPal is expected to be officially announced sometime in the next couple of months.

PS: Happy April Fools!

Glenbrook Partners today released the results of a new study that definitively links receipt of payment to the delivery of goods and services both at the physical point of sale and in ecommerce.

"It's uncanny," said Scott Loftesness, Partner at Glenbrook. "All of our research indicates a strong, almost conditional dependence between a merchant's getting paid and their willingness to deliver merchandise."

"In fact, in those instances where the merchant is not paid, we find that the goods or services are almost never provided, or if provided (generally in the ecommerce world), these transactions almost universally end up being "written-off" as a loss."

The complete study will soon be available for purchase -- but will only be delivered following receipt of payment.

PS: Happy April Fools!

The National Retail Federation has published a press release saying that Visa and MasterCard interchange fee increases scheduled to go into effect today will drive up costs for consumers.   » Continue Reading