Kip Tips

Shop Online ... With Cash

By Cameron Huddleston, Contributing Editor, Kiplinger.com

September 16, 2009

As a working mom, I don't have a lot of time to hit the mall. So I do most of my shopping online. As a personal finance writer and editor, though, I don't like clicking on "charge it" every time I buy something from a cyber retailer, but I know my debit card doesn't provide the same safeguards as credit cards do. There is another option, though.

EBillme offers you a way to make secure cash payments when you shop online. Through the eBillme site, you can shop at more than 800 stores. At check-out, you select the eBillme payment option. You'll get bill in your e-mail inbox. Then log onto your bank account and use the online bill-payment option as you would to pay your utility bill or any other bill.

The only personal information you have to provide to eBillme is your e-mail address, says eBillme chief executive Marwan Forzley. And you get the same protection as you would with a platinum credit card, he says. You can return the product within 90 days if you're not happy with it and receive a refund. If the product arrives damaged, you're covered. And if you find the same product cheaper from a different store, eBillme will send you a check for the price difference (up to $500).

And the best part of all: You can earn cash while paying with cash. EBillme, which was launched in 2005, started offering 1% cash back on all purchases this year. Once you earn $10, you can apply that money toward purchases through eBillme. The one drawback is that most of the stores aren't household names -- the bulk are online-only retailers. But there are some big names, such as Kmart, Sears and Buy.com.

If your bank doesn't offer online bill-pay, you're not out of luck. Forzley says eBillme just launched a new program that allows consumers to pay their bills in person 75,000 locations across the country, including CVS and Wal-Mart.

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