Swackie - Advantage Through Innovation

Advantage Through Innovation

Shopping on the internet is great, isn't it? The prices are really competitive, choice is fantastic and delivery has really improved with next day delivery the standard in many cases.

What may not be so apparent at first glance, is that there is a major problem with online commerce. There is a major headache for all retailers which hasn't really found a satisfactory answer yet. The biggest problem in ecommerce is taking payment.

You can't just handover cash. Sending a cheque is not really an option as it takes too long. Bank transfer has the same problem. What is needed is something which is instant, concluding the purchase on the spot, before either party gets a better offer. Step up the credit card. It is instant and universally accepted, so ecommerce has been saved and will flourish.

While it may be that simple for the buyer, unfortunately, it is not that simple for the seller. The seller has to pay for the privilege of being able to accept credit card payments and it can be very costly, taking up to 8% of the purchase price away from the seller. Guess where the seller is getting that money from? Yes, he has to add 8% to the price to cover this cost in the first place, so you, the buyer, pay for it indirectly.

Is there a solution? Is there another instant payment facility which doesn't cost so much? Paypal already set up such a system, but unfortunately, instead of passing the savings on to the customer, Paypal keep it for themselves, and that is a big part of why their parent company, Ebay managed to make a profit of well over $6 billion US Dollars last year. A profit of well over $6 billion, all funded from the items which ordinary people like you and me buy.

At Swackie, we started to consider how we could get around this, as it would enable us to offer cheaper prices right across our business. All our business is done online, so a solution to this problem could potentially save 8% of our cost, which we could then pass on to you, our customers. It would be a win-win situation. The customer would get 8% lower prices. We would be more competitive, winning more business and our partners would benefit from increased turnover and profit.

We created the iGroat, an instant payment solution which is completely free of charge to transfer and backed by secure deposits of all customers funds. Here is how it works.

You the customer send us payment to fund your account by bank transfer or cheque
You can also fund your account by selling items through our online marketplace
We deposit the funds in a secure account and credit your account with equivalent iGroats,
You can then purchase goods instantly, using your iGroat account at reduced rates
You can request instant withdrawal at any point, which is transferred to your bank the same day

Typically, we hold a reasonable amount of funds in interest bearing cash accounts to meet any anticipated withdrawals. We will hold a further amount in higher interest, short notice accounts with the balance of our holdings in long term low risk investments such as gilts and gold, etc. Our iGroats customer funds always hold at least as much as the collective balance of iGroats issued, making the iGroat one of the most secure currencies in the world.

We are not a bank and are not covered by banking regulations. Payments made to us are expressly held to guarantee your ability to purchase from other holders. To use iGroats, you can activate the section within your secure Swackie account control panel.