Alternatives to Money Orders
In the last decade a number of electronic alternatives to money orders have emerged and have, in some cases, supplanted money orders as the preferred cash transmission method. Many of these alternatives use the ubiquitous Visa/MasterCard payment systems to settle transactions. In Japan, the konbini system enables cash to cash transfers and is available at many of the thousands of convenience stores located in the country. In Italy the PostePay system offered through the Italian post office. In Ireland, 3V is offered through mobile top-up locations, and in the United States, PaidByCash is offered at 60,000 grocery and convenience stores. In the United Kingdom a number of credit card providers have started to provide pre-paid credit cards. These cards can be "topped-up" at any location that uses the Pay-Point system and also at the Post Office for the Post Office card. PayPal have their own branded pre-paid card which can be "topped-up" using a PayPal account, Pay-Points and at the Post Office.