My initial reaction, formed directly after readin "Amazon Cash" was similar to yours. This doesn't seem to be the devil I thought it would be though, since it's more analogous to gift cards than private scrip, IMO. Now, if you can use "Amazon Cash" in lieu of currency by, say, transferring it to other users at will, I'm right there with you - proprietary, private money is very creepy to me.
If you know unbanked people this is just an extension of the normal practice of buying Amazon gift cards at grocery stores and then using them.
Honestly I think that's most of the reason why Ralphs sells Google Play/iTunes/Best Buy/Amazon gift cards. People buy them with cash and then use them for themselves.
Yeah, its not the devil. It is more or less a "refillable" gift card. It would certainly be good for handling the occasional piggy-bank windfall (although a coinstar machine is better for that).
I worry, however, about financial products like this that get aimed at people who don't have bank accounts. They're a particularly vulnerable population.
