Coinstar Kiosk Amazon Reload Provide Cash Sites
Coinstar kiosk and Amazon Partner in cash reload sites 2018.
BELLEVUE, Wash.May 15, 2018/PRNewswire/ — Coinstar announced today that customers can now add cash to their Amazon Balance by using Amazon Cash at select Coinstar® kiosks across the country.
“We’re excited to team up with Amazon and give shoppers an easy and convenient way to add cash to their Amazon Balance,” said Jim Gaherity, CEO of Coinstar, LLC. “Coinstar is proud to enable Amazon Cash at Coinstar kiosks for cash-preferring customers, who can now enjoy the same benefits of shopping online as any other customer. Best of all, there are no fees to use the service.”
Amazon customers wishing to spend their cash on Amazon via Coinstar only need to associate their phone number to their Amazon account, which they can do at www.amazon.com/cash. To begin a transaction at Coinstar cash-accepting kiosks, the customer selects “Cash Services,” and then “Amazon Cash.” Next, the customer enters their phone number and inserts bills into the cash acceptor on the kiosk totaling any amount between $5 and $500. An Amazon.com Gift Card is automatically purchased and claimed to the customer’s Amazon Balance and is available for immediate use for eligible items on Amazon.com or select affiliated properties. There is no fee to use this service at Coinstar kiosks.
Coinstar kiosks are conveniently located in high-traffic retail locations, including grocery stores and mass merchants. Coinstar expects to have approximately 5,000 kiosks enabled by the end of the year to accept cash for Amazon Cash customers, and the rollout begins today at select grocery stores in the northeast. To find a Coinstar cash-accepting kiosk with Amazon Cash functionality, customers may visit: coinstar.com/amazoncash. For additional details on Amazon Cash, including full terms and conditions, customers may visit: amazon.com/cash.
About Coinstar, LLC
Based in Bellevue, Wash., Coinstar owns and operates the largest fully automated, multi-national network of self-service coin-counting kiosks. With nearly 20,000 kiosk locations, Coinstar provides convenient and reliable coin counting services at mass merchants, grocery and drug stores and financial institutions. Consumer solutions include coin-to-cash, coin-to-eGift card and charity donation options. For kiosk locations and information, visit www.coinstar.com.
SOURCE Coinstar
Coinstar News
There are some recent news articles regarding Coinstar, a company that operates self-service coin counting kiosks, and its partnership with Amazon, the online retail giant. Here are some of the main points:
- Coinstar announced that customers can now add cash to their Amazon Balance by using Amazon Cash at select Coinstar kiosks across the country. This service allows customers to shop online without a credit card or bank account, and with no fees. Coinstar expects to have about 5,000 kiosks enabled by the end of the year12.
- Coinstar agreed to pay $6 million in fines and restitution to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) after its prepaid debit cards were found to have taken unfair advantage of some 1.2 million prisoners who were issued one since 2011. The cards charged fees for accessing the money that prisoners were owed, and Coinstar failed to provide them with a cardholder agreement or an alternative option to receive their funds. The CFPB ruled that Coinstar violated the Electronic Fund Transfer Act and Regulation E3.
- The Prison Policy Initiative, a non-profit organization that advocates for criminal justice reform, published a blog post explaining why the CFPB’s order against Coinstar is a victory for prisoners and their families. The post argues that Coinstar’s debit cards are part of a larger system of exploitation and extraction that targets people in prison and their loved ones, and that the CFPB’s action is a rare example of government oversight and accountability in the prison industry4.
If you want to read more about these topics, you can check out the following links:
- Coinstar Teams with Amazon to Provide Amazon Cash Reload Sites
- Coinstar Expands Services with Amazon to Include Amazon Cash
- CFPB Hits JPay with $6 Million in Fines and Restitution Over Fee-Heavy “Debit Release Cards”
- The CFPB’s enforcement order against prison profiteer JPay, explained
Related Links
Coinstar Amazon Partner More Links
Paying bills – https://kioskindustry.org/coinstar-and-doxo-announce-partnership-to-simplify-paying-bills-with-cash/
Cashless kiosks – https://kioskindustry.org/cash-accessibility-cash-free-and-cashless-kiosks/
Not sure if this ever came to pass or was just another “get in the news”