Eyeing New Markets, A Niche Payment Player Wards off Recession

The electronic-commerce payments market remains highly competitive despite the recession, and the online niche payment systems are trying to adapt their game plans to the fluid conditions. “The economy is helping us on the consumer side and the merchant side,” says Sergio Pinon, chief executive of eLayaway LLC, an online payment option that enables consumers to pay for goods or travel services ahead of time. “The merchants are just desperate to stimulate sales, and consumers are looking for ways to pay for things without getting into debt.” ELayaway is one of more than a dozen alternative payment systems to be profiled in the upcoming May issue of Digital Transactions magazine. The downside for the Tallahassee, Fla.-based firm that went live in 2007 is that it isn't getting as much capital as it would like for expansion, according to Pinon. Most of privately held eLayaway's investors are based in Florida and have a good share of their money in the real-estate market. With real estate weak, they aren't putting more money into other sectors, at least for now. Still, eLayaway is branching out from its core retail sector. The company is eyeing sports, offering sales of season tickets to the New Orleans Saints and Minnesota Vikings National Football League franchises, and also to the Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey League. NFL season tickets can cost $1,500 or more, making them the type of big-ticket purchase fans would be willing to start paying for months before the football season starts, according to Pinon. ELayaway also is pursuing another big-ticket market, travel bookings. The company has a deal with a travel firm, which Pinon won't identify, that offers its payment option as its own branded service. The option has proved popular enough that the firm would need to add staff to handle the extra bookings, which it doesn't want to do, Pinon says. “They have been overwhelmed,” he says As a result, eLayaway is taking the bookings back in-house. Pending travel merchants include the Carnival cruise-ship line, Sandals resorts, and Hyatt hotels. Consumers pay 1.9% of the sale to buy on eLayaway at about 900 merchants. Customers can spread payments over three to 13 months, with merchants getting paid when the consumer makes the final installment. Merchants pay no transaction fees, but instead pay fixed monthly fees of $49.95 or $74.95 depending on the level of service and data they want about their customers using eLayaway. The company started that pricing plan in mid-2007 but waived it for a year, meaning that it now applies to new merchants and older ones when their contracts come up for renewal. Pinon says he expects some merchant attrition, possibly even the loss of a few hundred, but adds, “A lot of the members are really happy with the merchant network we have. We're taking quality over quantity.” Meanwhile, MODASolutions Corp.'s eBillme, another online alternative payment system that will be profiled by Digital Transactions, has started using social networks such as Facebook and Twitter as well as Google Inc.'s big YouTube video Web site to build consumer awareness, according to Marwan Forzley, president and chief executive.