Using Balance Share as Online Payment Solution

Using Balance Share as Online Payment Solution: "Using Balance Share as Online Payment Solution"

To what my understanding of the Pakistani online market is that the problem is not that people do not have access to a credit card process system in pakistan as even if we did no one is going to trust you with their cash and pay you in advance !! Think about it would you ?? There is a concept in pakistan where they like to get the feel of the thing before they pay for it ! Strange but true :) .. Im currently running a online store in Pakistan with over 5-8 orders a day and none of our customers are facing any problems making their payments as we keeping it simple by just offering Cash on delivery in Karachi as we are based here and with that offer Cash on Pickup in Lahore, Faislabad , Islamabad , Peshawar , Sialkot & Multan where custmors need to go after placing their orders to pick up their goods and pay their cash . This way these people get to see the products before they can pay for it and we dont have to run out with Cash . Till now things are going really smooth and as we have set up our system well and feel we dont really need a credit card processor but even if someones wants to offer their customers the option of making their payments online with credit cards then ill advise you to please just get a google checkout account as they do accept pakistani credit cards !! ..

Pakistan clearly lacks e-commerce infrastructure. Huge community, which is sharply growing with time, is being deprived of doing online businesses. Some courageous people tried their luck and evolved new payment solutions such as cash on delivery, cheque, wire and so on; which are obviously not as smart as credit card processing.

We know that balance share/load outlets are abundantly available in the lengths and breadths of Pakistan. The idea of using this balance share for money transfer hasn’t hit many minds yet, but let’s discuss if it can replace other payment solutions, especially for small money transfers.

For instance, you are in Islamabad and intend to buy a HeadPhone from an online store. What if the store owner offers you with an option to pay him Rs. 700 through balance share on one of his mobile number (that would match your network)? I guess it’s simplest of all other payment methods, but let’s dig out possible pros and cons

Pros

• Easy
• Simpler
• Quick
• Do able for everyone
• Reliable of course, as these balance shares systems have matured enough to not drop any transaction

Cons

• Process hasn’t legal status; I don’t know what implications a user may face in case if buy/sell process goes in court. For example, if you bought a Camera from an online store and now you want to approach Consumer Protection Court for any reason, then you may not present your payment method as a legal one.
• Greater fraud chances – reason is that there won’t be any documentation of the process so you can’t claim your transaction (just like we discussed in above point)
• Larger transactions may lead you in little unaffordable situation
• Higher Service Charges - if we take balance share/transfer deduction as service charges, you may find it too high compared to service charges by other methods. Balance share deducts as high as 5 percent of transaction, while credit card processing companies charge 1 to 3.5 percent at most.
• Its manual – unlike credit card processing there must be a store representative to interact with customer and carry forward the transaction, but no worries; as other available methods in Pakistan follow the same as well
• What else?

Please share your thoughts and let’s see if its workable model or not. It would be great if someone could come forward with case studies