Retail Expansion Network Launches PaidByCash, America's First Cash E-Commerce Service.

New Product Enables Internet Retailers to Offer Cash as a Payment Option, Infuses Market With Millions of Shoppers Now Able to Buy Online and Pay in Cash

OAKLAND, Calif. -- Retail Expansion Network, an e-commerce solution provider, today introduced PaidByCash, a new coast-to-coast cash network that allows any online retailer and any online shopper to complete a cash transaction over the Internet. PaidByCash is a Virtual MasterCard[R] product accepted by nearly every online retailer. With a nationwide network of 60,000 neighborhood retail outlets where consumers can convert cash into an online payment instrument, PaidByCash has opened a new market for the national online retail economy.

By enabling any online retailer to offer cash as a payment option, PaidByCash brings them a market it estimates at 100 million consumers who prefer to pay cash for online purchases. This buying population includes teenagers too young to qualify for credit cards, security-conscious online shoppers, people without credit cards or those whose cards are too near their credit limit, and individuals who simply prefer to pay in cash.

"With PaidByCash, cash payments have the same immediacy and universal acceptance as any other e-commerce payment method," said Michael Marubio, CEO of Retail Expansion Network. "By simply adding a PaidByCash logo to the checkout process, an online retailer instantly has a channel to reach millions of potential customers - roughly one-third of Americans - who until now could not or would not shop online."

Convenient and easy for consumers, PaidByCash provides a zip code mapping program that directs customers to any one of 60,000 locations in the PaidByCash network, usually a nearby grocery or convenience store. The consumer pays cash at these locations and then verifies their payment on the PaidByCash website. The consumer is then instantly issued a Virtual MasterCard[R] that is used to pay the online merchant. Any Internet retailer that currently accepts debit MasterCard[R] can easily add the PaidByCash logo to their checkout process and immediately begin accepting cash from their customers. By leveraging the MasterCard[R] system, PaidByCash works seamlessly with any existing e-commerce platform or payment gateway.

"Cash-based consumers are now the primary target of new programs from banks, insurance companies and retailers because they represent a huge un-tapped opportunity," said Tim Sloane, director of the Debit Advisory Service at Mercator Advisory Group, the leading independent research and advisory services firm exclusively focused on the payments industry. "Capturing this market, however, remains a challenge since the industry sorely lacks a cash-oriented solution that has anything near the ubiquity of card acceptance. By enabling cash-based consumers to participate in electronic payments using the traditional card network, PaidByCash may become the merchant's conduit to the cash-based society, creating a significant new revenue stream for merchants."

Americans without credit cards or the desire to use them online represent a huge potential market for online retailers. Until now, these people have simply not shopped online or have used the extremely slow process of purchasing through money orders. Although slow and laden with service fees, 996 million individual transactions representing roughly $120 billion are conducted annually though money orders, according to a 2004 Federal Reserve Payments Study. By employing PaidByCash, online retailers can tap into this potential and consumers can free themselves from payment limitations.

"As the leading source of game information for Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games with sites like Allakhazam.com we recognize the need to provide our paying subscribers with flexible payment options," said John Maffei, senior vice president of Affinity Media. "PaidByCash helps us reach our core consumers - dedicated gamers - with an option that is easy and intuitive."

"The prepaid industry is seeing tremendous growth as Americans come to know and trust these financial products," said Alan Safahi, CEO of Card Express International, one of the leading prepaid processors. "PaidByCash is an innovative solution aimed squarely at the most pressing need in Internet retail - reaching American consumers who don't have or won't use credit cards."

About Retail Expansion Network

Retail Expansion Network operates PaidByCash, a patent pending ecommerce service with more than 60,000 affiliated retail stores nationwide that enables any Internet retailer to accept cash and any online shopper to pay with cash. The company works with First Bank of Delaware, Western Union, Global Card Express and MasterCard International to enable the nation's first coast-to-coast cash system for ecommerce. For more information, visit www.retailexpansionnetwork.com.