Long before there was email, people’s physical mailboxes were inundated with junk mail. Lots of it. Whole forests likely perished supplying the paper for mailings that tempted us with offers from Publisher’s Clearing House, cheap magazines, and the Columbia Record and Tape Club. Records and tapes, for you young people, were— oh, never mind.

Today, the process has been digitized of course and with the added efficiency provided by the Internet, that pile of junk has now become an electronic mountain. One advantage though, is that you can easily choose who sends you offers and what kind, with a few mouse clicks. But the competition is fierce.

Clever marketers have realized though, that the key to reaching their target demographic is through the path of least resistance— old fashioned snail mail. Between 2007 and 2012, according to the New York Times , the amount of physical junk mail dropped by 26 percent. That’s a bummer for the U.S. Postal Service, but welcome news for mailbox owners.

The average person gets far less physical junk mail today, so the odds of standing out are much greater. When you stop and think about it, physical junk mail has a lot of advantages over the electronic kind. Not only is there less competition, but email can be much more easily blocked. The space in which marketers have to operate is much smaller with email as well, at least in the introductory phase.

Physical mail can come in any variety of shaped and sizes, with space available to for all manner of words and images. Email’s first and only impression, is often a mere subject line, usually limited to around 50 characters. That’s it.

Marketers can make a physical piece of mail all kinds of enticing. For example, the one below that informs the recipients that they have won a free Caribbean Cruise. Call the toll free number to claim the prize. Sounds pretty easy, so why not?

Well, for one it arrived pre-sorted, or what is also known as bulk mail. That just feels sketchy. For most consumer advocates that’s the initial measuring stick. Does it look fishy (as it were for a cruise giveaway), or too good to be true? If so, discard immediately. But what if you call? Dollars and Sense decided to find out.

Thank you for calling

Again, the mailing we got a hold of stated that a Caribbean cruise on either Norwegian Cruise Lines, or Royal Caribbean International had been awarded. With round-trip airfare. Simply call to claim the prize. After waiting for several minutes, and being told repeatedly that our call was important, a representative finally came on the line. She asked for the claim number and put us back on hold for a few moments.

It turns out that the prize is being issued by a company called Endless Access (no kin to Axcess Financial, the company that owns Check ‘n Go). The representative says that Endless Access is a travel agency located in a nearby suburb called Blue Ash. However, a quick Google search returns no local office location for that company. They do have a website though.

The mailing is part of an advertising promotion, and to claim the prize you must only give 90 minutes of your time. During an hour and a half presentation they will present all the different travel services they offer. No obligation, just sit and listen. That doesn’t sound like a scam. Except it is. According to the Better Business Bureau, news reports, and some of the companies mentioned as partners in other mailings like Marriott Hotels, many consumers have complained endlessly about Endless Access.

According to a report by Alex Dunbar of CNY Central (a consortium of local TV stations in Syracuse, New York), seminar attendees are issued the vouchers. The problem is there are hundreds of dollars in fees associated with them, as well as loads of travel restrictions. It’s no wonder that they ask that you bring a credit card, and not a state-issued ID or driver’s license, as proof of your identity.

CNY Central also reports that membership with Endless Access is upwards of $9,000. And that doesn’t even involve any trips. You could go on a lot of Caribbean cruises for $9,000. People show up though. It’s almost like the Internet didn’t exist.

You can listen to the entire call to the prize claim line below or on our SoundCloud page.

Research and insights for this article were provided by Check ‘n Go.

Finally it’s starting to look like technology has found a means to subvert the international money exchange system thanks to peer to peer currency exchanges. At present, the sector is one of the fastest growing in consumer finance and offers a wealth of advantages and generally much superior rates compared to the established banks. Even those that consider themselves market leaders in the business of currency exchange are being ever more undercut by P2P currency exchange services; and the great thing is that as this option becomes more established it can only grow further.

So what’s wrong with the traditional currency exchange system?

High street banks have long made a hefty dose of their profits by artificially raising the price of exchange currencies above the international bank exchange rate. Sure every company needs to turn a profit, but banks typically make around 5% of their profits by these exchange markets which were, until now, seemingly impervious to any alternative system. While there are companies that have been overtly set up and marketed to serve companies exchanging large sums at preferential rates, the truth is that even these operators are now being seriously undercut.

How has P2P currency exchange managed to become so popular?

In truth, it’s not just the popularity that is the fascinating issue here; it’s also how quickly the market has developed. Much of this has been down to people and companies becoming ever more willing to ‘think outside the box’ when conducting financial affairs – especially online. You can look at the prominence of alternative currencies such as Bitcoin becoming accepted as a viable (if temperamental) currency, how online shopping and business ordering has become the norm in day to day life and even a sense of frustration at the banks themselves following the crash of 2008.

Essentially the technology has made alternative systems of currency exchange viable, and they have been set up long enough now to prove that the system works.

How does P2P differ?

There’s plenty of in depth articles about the economics of P2P exchange but it’s worthwhile quickly outlining how the system works and why it is so able to undercut the banks. In a nutshell, a P2P currency exchange allows their clients to offer their domestic currencies at their own set rate of exchange and look for people abroad wishing to enact a similar trade – it’s essentially a match-making service. This is conducted under strict anonymity and the funds are managed through the site in exchange for a small handling fee. This makes the exchange of currencies a personal transaction based upon total anonymity, and the rates available can often seriously undercut the banks.

But isn’t it risky doing business this way?

Not at all, and this is one of the main reasons for the successful growth of the system. Not only are transactions all handled by the site itself – the exchange partner who you match with has no knowledge of your banking or personal details – making the site exceedingly difficult if not even impossible to defraud. The transfers tend to lean towards larger amounts for the best rates – making them great for businesses, especially those with international concerns.

Is p2p going to continue to rise?

All indications are that this is the case, especially as trade and lifestyles continue to become ever more internationalised. At present users need to have a bank account arranged in the currency that they wish to transfer funds to – say an account not just in the UK but also one in a Eurozone country to exchange into Euros or the USA to convert Pounds to Dollars. It’s not yet a viable option for personal, low-scale use such as holiday money but can save many thousands for larger transactions that otherwise would just be going towards the banks profit.

There’s no sign of the cynicism that people feel towards banks shifting anytime soon, and instead there’s a very good chance that P2P exchange will become a norm in the future – especially if rumoured services targeting smaller scale users come to fruition.

MidPoint offer a peer to peer money exchange that is one of the best established in this burgeoning marketplace. Take a look at their services to understand just how much P2P currency exchange can save you and your business.