The new product, called PayNearMe,
allows people who don’t have or don’t want to use credit or debit cards
to purchase Facebook credits with cash at nearly all of the 6,000 7-11
stores in the continental U.S. And it’s a heck of a deal.
Facebook Credits generally cost $0.10 each. PayNearMe is giving users
a 10% bonus, so $1 buys you 11 credits. And most users will also get a
50 or 100 credit bonus (worth $5 or $10) as well.
Here’s how it works. You sign into PayNearMe using Facebook Connect.
You set the number of credits you want to purchase and print out the
final page (see image). Take that into a 7-11 and they scan it and you
pay. Once you pay the credits are transferred to your account. In the
future, the company says they’ll have a mobile application and the clerk
can just scan your phone.
The bonus is paid every time a “shift” changes at each 7-11. So if
you redeem a coupon first during a shift you get the 50 or 100 credit
bonus. The program just launched moments ago, so the bonus is available
at just about every 7-11 right now, and resets at the next work shift.
The website also tells you which nearby 7-11′s still have the bonus
waiting.
This will only run for a few weeks as the company tests out the system, CEO Danny Shader tells me. So grab those credits while you can.