Broad distribution networks, often via agreements with convenience store chains, money service networks like Western Union and UAE exchange, as well as targeting of key merchants, and reasonable consumer costs are the main factors driving the adoption of cash-based alternative online payment methods.

These are some of the findings of Mercator Advisory Group's “Spending Cash Online: Alternative Payment Channels for e-Commerce 2010” study. According to the report, in spite of the growing consumer internet access at a global level and the fact that the number of consumers who rely on cash for payment reached billions, there is a gap between consumers' online payment needs and the tools available on the market, which limits access to e-commerce.

"Cash-based alternative online payments - which allow consumers to shop online while paying offline with cash - open the door to billions of consumers worldwide for equal access to the cost-savings, convenience and other benefits of online shopping," according to Terry Xie, Director of Mercator Advisory Group's International Advisory Service and principal analyst on the report.

Lost online sales opportunities from consumers who prefer to pay with cash could reach tens of billions US dollars per year, the same source indicates.