In the modern economy individuals and businesses pay for products and services using different forms of payments. These come in the form of a pay now or pay later method. The IOU (I Owe You) Notes platform focuses on the pay later method.

Traditional pay now methods include paper money of that particular government (example, US Dollar), debit card, check, trade products and services, or bank wire for larger purchases where the money is changed in real time from buyer to seller.

Traditional pay later methods include credit cards, installments such as car payments, mortgages, other loans, and lines of credits for personal and business use from different institutions.

Another form of borrowing (pay later method) consists of writing an IOU (I Owe You) note. This method is where a person borrows money from family, friends, and others in an informal way. It is with the intention to pay back but a lot of time either people start asking for the money back, or are too embarrassed to ask, or the person does not pay back and it creates tensions in the relationship. Certain businesses also offer to their client�s forms of credit for their goods or services and clients generally have 30 days to pay back. These business relationships are built over many years to establish payment and client history. When an individual or business starts to try to work with other vendors, that vendor pulls their credit report to see their history and decides whether or not to extend credit. Pulling a credit report too often has a negative effect on that individual or business. This results in making sense only to ask new vendors for credit on larger types of purchases, and not small and mid size purchases.

The term IOU (I Owe You) has a history dating to the 18th century. It is often viewed as an informal written agreement acknowledging debt. An IOU between two people conducting business may be followed up with a more formal written agreement. There is no standard format for an IOU. Criteria such as repayment terms, time of payment, interest due, and payment type may or may not be included.

An example of an IOU in the marketplace is as follows. Say ABC Construction Company places an order for lumber and other building materials and does not have enough in payment (credit card, cash, check) to pay for the entire order when it is delivered. Instead, company pays a down payment and issues an IOU (I Owe You) promising to pay for the rest of the materials within 30 days with or without interest. Assuming that supplier is ok with this and has an established business relationship with ABC Construction Company, an IOU will be accepted by both parties.

There are many situations where individuals and businesses need to borrow money to either pay for immediate expenses (food, rent/mortgage, child expenses, family expenses, etc.) or business expenses (payroll, inventory, supplies, etc.). Current options to borrow are from banking and lending institutions who charge high interest rates. Some credit cards offer zero or low interest rates for a time period but then afterwards interest rates spike up as much as 29% APR (annual percentage rate) plus late and other fees. These credit cards companies lure people into their trap knowing that there will be many people who fall into this interest trap. Once in debt it is hard to get out. IOU Notes platform interest rate is set by users (from no interest - 5% max).

People have been providing credit, borrowing, and lending to each other since the beginning of time. While this concept is not new, IOU Notes created a platform (patent pending) where transactions can safety and easily take place, be tracked, etc. in one convenient platform. Every account created must be a real person or business entity and go through a verification process by uploading the proper form of identification. Profiles can be set to public where everyone can see or private mode so just the individuals and businesses that are working together can see.