CyberCash Targeting The Check Verification Market
The Virginia based CyberCash has set its sights on a very large segment of the payment services marketplace, payments below $10.
Based on CyberCash announcements, the service is expected to be free to the consumer and cost the retailer between $.08 and $.31 based on transactions from a minimum of $.25 (32% of the transaction value) to $10 (3.1% of the transaction value).
The lower end of this transaction size has historically been a cash transaction; however, large numbers of checks continue to be written in the $5 to $10 range, which will be competing with CyberCash for the heart of the consumer.
Over the last few years the low-value check market has been the stomping ground of verification companies, providing both authorization and collection services.
CheckRite, one of the nation's leading check verification companies, has built their business around having neither the retailer nor the consumer pay for these low cost transactions, so long as the checks are good. They make their money only from those consumers whose checks have bounced.
For checks in the $5 to $10 range this is a stark contrast between consumers writing checks, and utilizing a CyberCash approach.
