I just made a purchase for a set of new Bose Triport replacement cushions using Bill Me Later. This was my first time using it and it was surprisingly easy: just fill in your address, birth date and last four digits of your social. In a matter of seconds, you find out whether or not you can make the purchase on credit. I’m not really sure how I get an invoice and pay for it, so I’ll post an update on that shortly. The apparent technology with BML is interesting because it doesn’t require you to enter your full SSN, unlike say a credit card application, and instead uses a variety of known factors like your address and birth date to figure out who you are and consequently, your credit allowance.
BML was acquired by eBay in late 2008 for approx. $820M in cash and many large corporations have begun to roll it out as an alternative payment option alongside the usual Mastercard, Visa and PayPal.
Update: I registered an account with BML and it was as simple as purchasing my payment (SSN, and DOB). Afterwards, it asked me for my bank checking account number, which I was hesitant on providing, and noticed at the bottom of the page was a “skip this step” which I clicked on. I’m still not sure how I will be paying for this (e.g. check, CC?).
Update 2: Reader TJ points out the following,
The answer is, if you don’t register a checking account, there’s a physical address you can send payment to when it is due. The address will be printed on your statement, just like any other bill. You can also link your BML account to Paypal, and pay that way.
Upon closer inspection of the BML website, I’ve noticed they do indeed accept PayPal as a payment to settle the balance. Which raises the point… what’s the “value add” of BML if I can use PayPal (e.g. bank or CC) to pay my online purchases? Just seems like another unnecessary middleman.