Whilst there has been an explosion of various forms of e-billing in recent years, most of these are powered by plastic, and cash still remains the preferred form of money in the eyes of most people: it's tangible, government-backed, and guaranteed to be accepted with a smile at most points of sale throughout the world.

However, despite the public's love affair with it, cash clearly has some drawbacks: checking in to a hotel or hiring a car can be difficult, and it is clearly not suitable for ecommerce — until now.

Thanks to U.K.-based billing company, www.ukash.com, customers can now pay by cash at over 275,000 points in 15 countries, at convenient superstore, gas station and convenience store locations, in return for a secure and unique 19-digit number which assures payment when it is presented online.

Already operational in several territories around the world including Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Poland, Russia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Italy, Australia, and the United Kingdom, Ukash has already established itself as a major processing force within the online gaming arena and has recently set its sights on the adult space — allowing webmasters to effectively accept cash from customers in countries where Ukash is already active.

Moreover, since the payment is pre-paid, it is therefore guaranteed free of any chargebacks; allowing webmasters to start reaching this viable and potentially very lucrative market of card-adverse customers, which is currently being overlooked by the vast majority of adult websites.

Other USP's of note include: no registration needed by customers, hence one less barrier for them to start using it and the opportunity to start paying anonymously for content. Furthermore, customers can get change: if the value of the transaction is less than the customer's Ukash value, they will receive a new Ukash number, value and expiry date.

Since Ukash is regulated by the UK Financial Services Authority, with this regulation passported to the local regulator in all other markets in which it operates, it seeks only to deal with reputable adult websites that are operated legally and ethically. Moreover, they have an age check in place in their payment process and can introduce webmasters to full age verification partners if they lack this functionality on their site.

In an era of increasing online fraud and identity theft, Ukash is proving popular with a growing army of digitally nervous customers because it is secure and anonymous. Moreover, research has shown that the vast majority of Ukash users already have a bank or credit card, but would prefer not to use them online for precisely these reasons. The company's strap line says it all: "Easy, safe and private online payments for everyone."