Paypal is history - maybe

Really impressive. It is currently only available for U.S. citizen.

I agree this is very interesting. I know that the credit card companies are going to try to destroy this company though. I'll definitely keep a watchful eye on Dwolla.

I can't say much about this startup, but in general, I hope all the original PayPal guys have their money in other assets. It definitely seems like a business where you'll have a hard time establishing a stable competitive advantage if other people really try to compete with you.

Interesting. It should have been done this way all along. Wonder what took so long for someone to figure it out.

Interesting idea. Not sure if the banks will like their profits removed like this. Just seems like something is missing from the picture here.

In my job I get wire transfers all the time and their are fees for both sides. Banks like fees just not sure if their will catch on.

I'm glad to see anther company with a good upstart.Maybe Dwolla will give Paypal a run for their money.

Even if this new service doesn't replace PayPal, some serious competition may help keep them from getting to drunk on their own monopolistic power.

These days, it seems like PayPal shuts down accounts at the drop of a hat.

John

Like Square, this is only available in the USA. If these companies want to become mainstream they need to tap into other countries and do it fast. Why a company takes 6+ months to setup in a developed places like Europe doesn't make a lot of sense. I know regulations etc are different but they should be rolling this service out faster. This is why Paypal for instance will always have an edge on all these new start-ups as they don't allow any type of global trade like Paypal. This means you can't purchase goods abroad, pay for outsourcing and the list goes on.

Great idea, hope they do well as merchant account fees are a killer for many in these tough times.

I am going to go check out dwolla right now.
I will sign up also.
Now if all the people that hate paypal,especially here at the WF signed up,and used the service,it would already let paypal know there time is coming.

How many registered warriors are there?
How many do large transaction of funds?
Ya,paypal will win gain.

Maybe.... Or maybe it is just a dream of many people who have walked on the dark side of PayPal.

There have been several PayPal killers in recent years that are still small companies, just as there have been a multitude of Google killers that didn't even break 1% market share.

What I find amazing, not just in it's functionality but in the conceptualizing, and action taking these guys did.

After reading 'The Fastlane' and eschewing normal thought patterns around 'a job' I just love this. I reckon it will be a kick up the behind for credit card companies, and paypal.

When it takes off, transitions may hurt, but in the long run...

Hats off to them.

James

*shrugs*

They will have to give a lot of incentives for it to really take off. Personally, I like getting cash back as a buyer and dont really care about seller fees.

Garrie

Can you really trust a 28 year old bald guy? I have trouble trusting bald men over 60, let alone those under 30. Something is amiss.



EDIT: OK, I have read the article and it certainly sounds interesting. I will have to see it in motion and note the speed of transactions before I could make an evaluation.

They key to their success will undoubtedly be name recognition. It's a tough sell to give your banking info over to a not so well known website.

I just looked at this post and was skeptical.

but after I visited the website, I was interested to see and read more. Thanks for teh share.

Wow that's pretty crazy. Definitely going to be watching out for Dwolla. It's pretty inspiring to hear about a guy that young with a pretty innovative idea.

There's been a lot of Google killers, Paypal killers, Ebay killers, Facebook killers, Microsoft killers, Amazon killers, etc. etc.

Don't think PayPal will ever gone into history, they will be one of the online payment processing players if not the largest player in the time to come, just my thoughts

I hope to goodness PayPal shuts down.

that website look intresting, defently worth a try.

but about paypal going down? i dont see that happend in the near future... ppl are just used to paypal and people prefer usaly what they are used to.

I pray that Dwolla takes off. I despise Paypal, but they are the only company that has a chokehold on the game. Paypal is just another monopoly arm of our dictator Google. Ebay, also.

With the low charge per transaction, quite a few eyes are on this service and I am sure an equal number are concerned of their loss of the 'market share pie'. Interesting days!

cheers, Patrick

thanks for sharing

very very interesting

the company is doing 30 to 50 millions a month
nothing short of an success.

will it be a paypal killer? we will have to wait and see.

Maybe they won't kill Paypal but and that really isn't their objective. But I like the idea of having a choice and this sounds viable. We'll see...

Are there any long term plans to expand internationally?

Rick

Thank you for the share.

I hope in some ways it does kill Paypal, and the likes as they certainly have the monopoly on all financial transactions.
As they stated in the article, it has been some time since someone invented a new payment system, so I hope it works and stops the greedy banks and credit card companies earning their obscene profits and making us carry the can for their mistakes and causing this financial crisis.

Sorry that's my rant out of the way.

Have a great day.

Nah.. paypal will never be history. It's used in too many different places. With that being said, dwolla may come in and be used just as frequently as paypal.

sounds nice
time will tell...

This is threatening to Paypal. But, I don't think a company as big as Paypal will give in easily. And, it'll take a while for earning online sites to switch from Paypal to Dwolla, if ever.

Hmm. Thanks for the share, I'm gonna keep an eye on this considering I have an account with 8K locked on Paypal for "verification procedures" .

A lot of people keep saying how Paypal will never go under, but if we all really wanted it to we could make it go away. Especially with us being webmasters, SEO gurus, etc... we could definitely promote Dwolla and make Paypal plummet over time..

Paypal is insanely expensive and what do you get in return? I always wait for 24-hours for email response. I hate it

Paypal goes bigger in minute while other banks file for bankruptcy!

It is nice and I success would get more success but trust is always the issue, who would jump into it with no trust ?

Beside for micro workers websites, I don't think would jump into it as PayPal fees are similar for that type of transactions.

Wow! A Des Moines, Iowa Native inventing something Cool? Of Course all I can do is support, considering the fact that I to am also from Des Moines, Iowa. Not that, that provides interest to any of you lol!

I really like the Idea and concept of Dwolla and what Ben Milne has going for him! I will definitely be keeping my eye on him and Dwolla!

Am I the one that finds paypal convenient? I have never had a problem with it.

Why are people talking about THIS like it is THE endall of whatever? There have been all sorts of gimics. Credit card ONLY! Checks ONLY! Checks and credit card. Rebate only, Award only, Ponzi, Investment gimics, Buying credits, Transfering credits, Buying virtual commodities, etc....

My favorite is the one that had virtual commodities that claimed to be a paypal killer that was often funded only by paypal!

You know, now that I think about it.... you know that "99%"? If they were *****REALLY***** the 99%, they could start their own bank, create their own currency, and make the 99% the rich ones(relatively speaking), and the 1% DIRT POOR!

It's EASY! ALL you need is a CONSENSUS among the majority of people that can offer value. SIMPLE!

But THEY haven't done that. THAT is ALSO the challenge of a non tangible backed credit system online.

Steve

I really think that the (people) power to push a company to become a viable competitor of the leader in its sector of activity is the essence of the Internet.

Some questions:

Are the company ready to expand?

What about be global (Europe and Asia)?

Does the business model have a future?

that's what up . good work by that dude.

This is a GREAT news! to hear at last.

I've been deeply involved in the 'alternatives' payments space for almost 15 years now - and here are some basic facts:

1) Outside of the US - credit is NOT the most widely used payment method, online or offline. Bank debit and bank transfers (two different things) are the most widely used payment methods. The US is still the most credit card centric country in the world.

2) Outside of the US - there are many different companies doing basically the same thing that DWolla does, utilizing online bank payment systems, but unlike ACH-style systems - the payments cannot be cancelled by the consumer once initiated. This offers the merchant a very safe way to get paid - for a very low cost. The truth is that there are many issues with bank transfers (including ACH & Echecks) in the US - as they are a) slow b) subject to high levels of fraud and NSF and c) pretty easy for the consumer to cancel or dispute (reverse) (BTW - as someone that works daily in this space - I can tell you that the banking system in the US is one of the most antiquated in the world when it comes to technology available for payments)

3) PayPal is a HIGHLY regulated company and as pointed out previously - has many different business models based on local jurisdictional regulations. If you think it is going away anytime soon - not happening. It is well entrenched in many countries, and set up in so many different ways around the world, that it is close to being a sovereign entity of it's own at this point . As an aside - in the US - PayPal is a licensed money remittance company, required for any company that allows person to person transfers (and is an expensive process to go through - usually in the realm of $5m and a couple of years time as it is done state by state). Dwolla got around this process to some extent by partnering with a financial institution, as mentioned in their article.

4) DWolla - Love the entrepreneurial energy behind it and actually digging into discussions with them on an international level - but there are going to be some major bumps ahead -as there is for ANY company in the payments space with 'disruptive' technology.

Will keep you posted on the discussions........

Mel

Really impressive. Someone needs to give PP a run for our money !!

Accounts don't get blocked for nothing at PayPal...

Second, They're not stupid or ignorant after being one of the biggest for so many years.
It's likely PayPal will come back with some counter action or something else that will attract and keep more customers.

Andre

It looks like an interesting idea, but it won't kill PayPal because:

1. Only works in the US. Until it is worldwide, like PayPal, most of the planet can't use it. Hopefully they will get this resolved, but until then, I and billions of other people can't use it.

2. No Credit Cards - yes, they are cheaper because people can pay from their bank account, but many people prefer to pay from credits cards because or rewards systems like air miles or because they don't have funds in their account right now.

So I see it as an alternative that can be offered, not a PayPal "killer."

Every year there is someone who tries a paypal competitor with new ideas, and they pretty much universally fail or have a very niche market. As the owner points out, there are a lot of requirements for moving money, and at only a small amount per transaction, it's going to be hard to be profitable.

PayPal spends millions and millions a month preventing fraud, paying back people who are victims of fraud.

Such a pity that it isn't available worldwide, but if it does it's definitely a place to be on

makes an interesting read not sure if it will overshadow paypal

It does sound like it is going to be strong competition for Paypal, reading from the article. But, they did say few years ago that Google Checkout would kill Paypal but Dwolla does seem a little different in its offering.

Interesting. I'm thinking about offering this as an alternative payment option. However, that is a major drawback that it's only available here in the U.S. I don't think this will come anywhere near to ending Paypal's reign, but it's nice to know there's another alternative.

Google Checkout never had all of the bells and whistles that PayPal did but that is about to change. GCO is being merged into the Google Wallet by the end of the year, which looks to be a very possible competitor to PP.

That being said - as always, PayPal has 'things in the works'. They are always in motion - love 'em or hate 'em - they really are an amazing machine, if you truly understand what they do and how much volume they handle globally.

Mel