Bistip, an online platform where travellers can get money from buying stuff for people back home, recently launched Affiliation feature on the site in order to boost its membership number. Founded back in March 2011 now Bistip has hosted 23.000 conversations between travellers and their “customers” with IDR 187 million ($20.000) worth of transactions serving 3600 routes around the world.

If you’re wondering why the transaction number is so small, the transaction happening in the site is mostly for low-value items.

The affiliate feature will provide each user with a unique invitation code they can spread throughout their networks and get paid USD 0.5 per every activated account invited. Activated users are the visitors referred by your site whom register and validate their email addresses in Bistip’s site.

Although it looks pretty nice, but it has some down side as well. First of all, the affiliator must sign an affiliation agreement with Bistip. That means a piece of paper signed by both parties, a big-big hassle and wasting a lot energy for  an otherwise very simple process. We think it’s Bistip’s strategy in order to filter the users affiliated to the service and get rid all the money-sniping users ready to suck the company dry.

Not long after its first anniversary a few months ago, Bistip launches SafePay, one of the feature to make it easier for its users in doing payment – between the one entrusting the goods with the entrusted. This peer to peer delivery service has provided mobile application so the ‘transaction’ confirmation process can be faster and easier.

Bistip’s mobile strategy is also being executed, their application is currently only available on Google Play but the applications for BlacBerry and iOS are already submitted and awaiting approval iOS and Blackberry. For the next development, message feature will be added. This is also to make smoother transaction with SafePay. As to when this feature will be available is not to be published yet.