7-Eleven and Greyhound Expand PayNearMe Nationally

DALLAS -- Greyhound and 7-Eleven have taken their partnership nationwide, allowing convenience store customers across the United States to reserve bus tickets online or over the phone and pay for them in cash at their local 7-Eleven store through the program, PayNearMe.

The business agreement turns 7-Eleven neighborhood stores into local Greyhound ticketing offices, the company said. The partnership was first tested at stores in the Dallas-Fort Worth area last June, as CSNews Online previously reported.

"About 50 percent of Greyhound's customers use cash to pay for their bus tickets, but until now there has not been a way to deliver exclusive online discounts to this constituency or even to allow these customers to pay for tickets in advance by phone or over the web," said Dave Leach, president and CEO of Greyhound. "Through our relationships with 7-Eleven and PayNearMe, we can now increase savings for all of our cash customers while eliminating the hassle of making an extra trip to the terminal. This is our way of making life easier for our loyal cash customers."

Starting immediately, customers can select a schedule and put a ticket on hold for up to 48 hours at www.greyhound.com. They can then print a barcode and take it to 7-Eleven stores operated and franchised by 7-Eleven Inc. to purchase the ticket at the cash register, the company said.

Alternatively, customers can pick up a reusable Greyhound card from any of the 6,400 participating 7-Eleven stores, then book the ticket with a Greyhound agent over the phone and give them the unique card number. The 7-Eleven cashier will swipe the customer's card to complete the transaction.

The 25 percent of U.S. households without a debit or credit card should find PayNearMe particularly useful, according to the news release. "PayNearMe was developed under the premise that all consumers deserve the right to the same goods and services, regardless of their preferred method of payment or financial situation," said Danny Shader, PayNearMe CEO. "Our partnership with Greyhound and 7-Eleven provides unbanked and underbanked consumers with more fare options, because they now have access to discounts only available on Greyhound.com."