7-Eleven to offer alternative payment for online entertainment

Dallas 7-Eleven and alternative payment systems provider Kwedit are making it easier for millions of online gamers to buy virtual goods via a “Play Now. Pay Later” plan. Shoppers can now pay for digital content and virtual goods using Kwedit at more than 5,800 7-Eleven stores across the United States.

Shoppers of online entertainment can make payments at 7-Eleven stores using both Kwedit Direct and Kwedit Promise, two services provided by Kwedit. Kwedit Direct creates Kwedit Slips -- paper “invoices” -- that consumers print and bring to participating stores where the slips are scanned and payment is accepted at the register.

In addition to facilitating payments, Kwedit Slips can deliver targeted promotions that consumers can use when they visit their local 7-Eleven store. Kwedit Slips will soon be rendered and scanned from consumers’ smartphones, providing even greater convenience.

The markets that 7-Eleven and Kwedit will serve with these new products are large and growing: U.S. virtual goods sales reached $1 billion in 2009 and are projected to grow to $1.6 billion in 2010, according to InsideVirtualGoods.com. These projections do not include game subscriptions, music purchases, digital downloads and other forms of digital content that can also be served by 7-Eleven and Kwedit.