Leading global payments provider, Paysafe, today announces the global launch of its latest alternative payment solution - 'Paysafecash'. The pioneering and ultra-safe online cash payment option has been designed to cater for the sizeable number of online shoppers around the world who still prefer to pay by cash. Recent data indicates that despite the enthusiastic uptake of electronic payments by many, numerous online shoppers are growing increasingly concerned that online shopping all too frequently results in financial fraud and data breaches.

Developed by the same Paysafe team who created the award-winning, pre-paid cash solution -paysafecard, a global leader in the online prepaid payments industry - the launch of Paysafecash forms part of Paysafe's disruptive strategy of delivering an unrivalled suite of safe, frictionless and relevant payments products around the world.   

Paysafe drew on both industry and proprietary research when developing the new cash product.  Contrary to popular belief that all online goods are purchased using credit or debit cards or other digital methods, market data indicates that around two billioni adults in the world are still unbanked. Even in highly developed regions such as the European Union, over 57 millionii adults do not have bank accounts and 68%iii of transactions are still paid for using cash. In the UK, for example, despite the extensive usage of contactless payments, the number who rely almost entirely on cash has jumped by 500,000 to 2.7 million over the past two years according to data by Payments UK and the Bank of England. Fraud concerns and data security are often cited as a major reason for not wanting to share bank account or credit/debit card details online.

Unlike other online cash solutions in the marketplace today, Paysafecash offers a number of unrivalled and unique benefits. It's the first online cash solution that can be used to upload funds into digital wallets, including Paysafe's own popular digital wallets, Skrill and NETELLER. This means that Paysafe can now offer consumers who want it, an entire payments ecosystem running on cash, totally negating the need to have a bank account or share financial data online.

Additionally, with Paysafecash, shoppers can pay in exact amounts for the purchases they are making, rather than being forced to round up the amount to a fixed voucher denomination which is typically the only 'cash' option offered to date by online retailers. 

This is how easily payment works with Paysafecash:

1. Generate barcode
The customer selects "Paysafecash" in the online shop as the payment method, loads the generated QR/barcode to his wallet, sends it to his mobile phone or prints it out.

2. Find payment point
Using the search function, the customer finds the nearest Paysafecash payment point.

3. Scan & pay
The customer has the QR/barcode scanned by sales staff in a payment point and pays the amount due. The online shop processes the order directly after payment.

The product launch also ties into Paysafe's new brand positioning of being the 'new Big' in the global payments industry as outlined in its recently re-vamped website and its 'Plug into Paysafe' global marketing campaign.  As part of the Plug into Paysafe campaign, the payments provider is publishing the next iteration of its latest international study 'Lost in Transaction: Payment Trends 2018' this week. The new study reveals that 63% of consumers said they feel more comfortable purchasing online via a payment option where their financial details are not shared.  A further study by CyberCorp showed that websites offering four or more payment options, in addition to credit cards, have a 12% higher conversion rate than online retailers only offering one alternative. 

According to Udo Müller, Paysafe's CEO behind the product, Paysafe is focused on offering these much-needed additional payment options for online shoppers. He believes Paysafecash has the potential to drive millions of additional shoppers online representing a true growth driver for digital shopping and online retailers. 

Müller commented: "Every day in the news we read about fraud and data breaches, often impacting well-known and established online retailers, so nobody is immune to the risks of sharing their account or card data online.  On top of that, there are still significant tranches of our global population who remain unbanked and don't possess payment cards of any description.  So we know there is a substantial need to provide a flexible and safe online cash solution to help both consumers and retailers overcome these hurdles.

Müller continued: "When developing Paysafecash, we wanted to create a pioneering cash solution that challenged other digital payment products out there and Paysafecash offers some truly unique features such as being the only cash solution that can be used to load funds into digital wallets.

This is another industry first for Paysafe and reinforces our track record of challenging the status quo to meet the unmet payment needs of both consumers and retailers."

Paysafecash is already live and proving popular amongst shoppers in 14 countries including Austria, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Hungary, the UK and Canada.  Plans are underway to extend its availability in an additional 32 markets, including the US, by the end of the year.