Account and Money keeping?

[focus]

I was wondering is there a reason why some website that have money transactions keep money on their users account instead of going directly to the bank?

Example:
- egsite.com pays users based on referrals.
- Earning from referrals are kept on user accounts created on their website.
- When the user is ready they can then transfer it to their bank account.

Isn't it faster if the money based on referrals goes directly to the bank account instead of being put in the user account first?

Hope this makes sense.

 

[essellar]

I can think of two reasons offhand.

1) There is usually some sort of transaction fee involved in the transfer, so even if that fee is very small (on the order of a few cents), a site that works on small transactions/micropayments is going to lose a significant amount of revenue if they do automated deposits. Depending on the payment processor, accumulating money in user accounts can do either or both of reducing the deposit transaction cost and offloading the cost of the deposit transaction to the users' accounts.

2) By offering something that looks and smells like "in-store credit only", they can encourage a significant number of users to spend their credits on the site, minimizing their actual financial outlay (the referral fees, etc., come out of mark-up rather than costs, and they make much of it back when you spend at full retail). They don't need to imply that you can't move the money off-board; they just need to add enough friction to the process that it's at least as easy for you to spend on-site as it is to withdraw in order for this strategem to work.

 

[mobbix10]

lol