The odds are stacked against Dwolla.
It believes it has found a way to build a payment network that runs on cash and eliminates the costly fees associated with credit cards.
It is those fees, called interchange rates, that make other companies, like Visa and MasterCard, a ridiculous success.
To disrupt the system, the Des Moines, Iowa-based company is building a digital wallet that allows people to pay for an item at a store or in person (like the babysitter) using the Dwolla mobile application.
Today, it rolls out a new part of the system, which it hopes will financially support lower interchange rates for merchants.
The hitch is that instead of the entire burden being on the merchant, like it is now, consumers will be expected to pay for what they use. It would sort of be like a bank charging for checking (and we know how well that goes over).
Ben Milne, the founder of Dwolla, believes that if the costs of the system are transparent then people will understand why they have to pay. “There’s a cost to the network and we think everything should be apparent and upfront to everyone,” he says.
So far, there are two critical pieces of the operation.
The first one rolled out a few weeks ago and makes any transactions under $10 free to the merchant. Normally those transactions are cost prohibitive to merchants because they have to pay around 2.75 percent per transaction. On small purchases, that can be their profit margin.
The second part of the system rolls out today, and explains how Dwolla believes it can make money even when it doesn’t charge for small transactions.
The feature is called “Instant.”
It will allow Dwolla users who sign up for it to have access to cash immediately.
The company doesn’t mean the kind of money that folds, but rather allowing the free exchange of money between people and merchants without any fees — like cash. Think of it as a little bit like PayPal when there’s no fees.
Here’s how it works:
Users sign up for Dwolla and link it to a bank account.
They pay $3 a month to get access to cash immediately instead of having to transfer money from their account to Dwolla each time they want to use it, which can take two or three days. Users will have a credit line of up to $500. If they fail to pay off their balance at the end of the month, they will be charged $5. The subscription can be turned off at any time.
In the system, any transactions over $10 will cost 25 cents, which is paid by the merchant (or a person can volunteer to pay for it, which happens sometimes if it’s a donation).
The feature is even more important on the back end because it brings down a merchant’s cost of accepting credit. Instead of paying upwards of 2.75 percent per transaction, merchants will pay zero for purchases under $10.
Dwolla is working with TMG Financial Group in order to be able to extend the line of credit to its users.
The system may be a tougher sell to consumers, who are currently showered with free accounts and other incentives, like airline miles, for using credit cards.
Generally, Dwolla is part of the bigger trend of payments going digital. Google, Visa, MasterCard, cellphone carriers, American Express, PayPal and a host of other start-ups believe in the value of making money more accessible and losing the legacy form factor of a plastic card.
If consumers do buy into what Milne is trying to do, it still might be difficult to actually use.
The company is tiny. It has roughly 15 employees, 70,000 users and is live in up to 4,000 locations in the U.S.
Dwolla’s Ben Milne knows the odds and is still optimistic.
“Life is a hustle, and it’s not going to be easy to build these things. But we weren’t in rooms last year that we are in today, and the size of the financial institutions we are talking to right now are large companies.”
URL: http://allthingsd.com/20111215/how-a-tiny-des-moines-start-up-believes-it-can-beat-the-credit-card-industry/?mod=googlenews
Thursday, 15 December 2011
Wednesday, 7 December 2011
Visa and MasterCard are not Finite Options for Rental Car Insurance
Let me tell you a horror story about credit card rental insurance. A few weeks ago I needed a rental car. Enterprise was located right around the corner, so I figured I would give them a shot. This was my first rental car, so I wasn’t exactly sure how this process worked. But to my surprise, I was in my rental in under 20 minutes. Perhaps that was part of the problem.
I normally drive a 2003 Ford Mustang. While I requested a car of similar size, Enterprise only had three vehicles available: a Ford F150, a Dodge Dakota pick-up truck, and some mini-van the size of an 18-wheeler. After considering my options, I should have walked away. I’ve never driven a big truck before, and living in a sky-rise with a tight parking garage, it would be a terrible idea to take any of these. Regrettably, I asked for the smallest of the three vehicles, which was the Dodge Dakota.
Having just received my new Capital One Spark Business Visa Card, I knew I had rental car damage waiver protection. So in filling out the paperwork on this truck, I waived the extra $19.95 a day damage insurance offered by Enterprise. I moseyed on back to my apartment complex, only to realize that this pick-up truck was indeed too large for my parking garage. I tried to maneuver the truck into my parking space, and even though I thought the dimensions would work … they didn’t. I ended up getting stuck to the cement post to my left.
The only way out was to rev it, so that’s what I did. You might say that my 20 minute rental of a Dodge Dakota was now a wee-bit crumpled. Looking at it made me sick. I drove the car out of the garage and returned it right back to Enterprise. They filled out a quick form, looked at the damage and told me they would call with an estimate the next day (two weeks later, I have not heard from them). If I were to judge, I’d say there’s about $2,000 worth of repairs needed. Ugh.
But not to worry. I immediately called Visa to get the claim form filled out. After providing the very helpful CSR with my information, she let me know that I do not qualify for coverage. What was that? Well wouldn’t you know it; certain cars and trucks are NOT included in rental car insurance coverage. Taken directly from Visa’s website:
I guess the moral of this story is that you should never assume your insurance policy covers you in certain scenarios. Whether it’s auto, health, home or life insurance, make sure you know the ins and outs of your coverage. And even if you think you’ll never get into an accident, plan for it. Don’t be the $2,000 idiot I was and assume you’re covered.
URL: http://www.doughroller.net/credit-cards/visa-and-mastercard-are-not-finite-options-for-rental-car-insurance/
I normally drive a 2003 Ford Mustang. While I requested a car of similar size, Enterprise only had three vehicles available: a Ford F150, a Dodge Dakota pick-up truck, and some mini-van the size of an 18-wheeler. After considering my options, I should have walked away. I’ve never driven a big truck before, and living in a sky-rise with a tight parking garage, it would be a terrible idea to take any of these. Regrettably, I asked for the smallest of the three vehicles, which was the Dodge Dakota.
Having just received my new Capital One Spark Business Visa Card, I knew I had rental car damage waiver protection. So in filling out the paperwork on this truck, I waived the extra $19.95 a day damage insurance offered by Enterprise. I moseyed on back to my apartment complex, only to realize that this pick-up truck was indeed too large for my parking garage. I tried to maneuver the truck into my parking space, and even though I thought the dimensions would work … they didn’t. I ended up getting stuck to the cement post to my left.
The only way out was to rev it, so that’s what I did. You might say that my 20 minute rental of a Dodge Dakota was now a wee-bit crumpled. Looking at it made me sick. I drove the car out of the garage and returned it right back to Enterprise. They filled out a quick form, looked at the damage and told me they would call with an estimate the next day (two weeks later, I have not heard from them). If I were to judge, I’d say there’s about $2,000 worth of repairs needed. Ugh.
But not to worry. I immediately called Visa to get the claim form filled out. After providing the very helpful CSR with my information, she let me know that I do not qualify for coverage. What was that? Well wouldn’t you know it; certain cars and trucks are NOT included in rental car insurance coverage. Taken directly from Visa’s website:
Excluded worldwide are: expensive, exotic, and antique automobiles; certain vans; vehicles that have an open cargo bed; trucks; motorcycles, mopeds, and motorbikes; limousines; and recreational vehicles.And from the MasterCard website … just in case you think I’m getting a raw deal:
Excluded: All trucks, pickups, full-size vans mounted on truck chassis, campers, off-road vehicles, and other recreational vehicles; trailers, motorbikes, motorcycles, and any other vehicle having fewer than four wheels; antique vehiclesSeems like anything that’s not a sedan or compact car is excluded. Sadly, that knowledge would have gone a long way in getting me off the hook for this four digit expense I’m about to incur. Instead, I wait for a dreadful phone call to learn how much this overpriced estimate is going to be. And there’s not a gosh darn thing I can do about it.
I guess the moral of this story is that you should never assume your insurance policy covers you in certain scenarios. Whether it’s auto, health, home or life insurance, make sure you know the ins and outs of your coverage. And even if you think you’ll never get into an accident, plan for it. Don’t be the $2,000 idiot I was and assume you’re covered.
URL: http://www.doughroller.net/credit-cards/visa-and-mastercard-are-not-finite-options-for-rental-car-insurance/
Debit-Fee Cap Has Nasty Side Effect
Jason Scherr had a lot on his mind the day after he opened his fifth Think Coffee shop in Manhattan last week. The fan was blowing too hard, the classical music was playing a little too loudly—and he was trying to figure out how to get more customers to pay with cash.
A new law that was supposed to reduce costs for merchants that accept debit cards has instead sent Mr. Scherr's monthly processing bills much higher and forced him to reassess the way he does business.
"My choice is to raise prices, discount for cash or get an ATM," says Mr. Scherr, a lawyer who has been in the coffee-shop business for more than a decade.
Just two months after one of the most controversial parts of the Dodd-Frank financial-overhaul law was enacted, some merchants and consumers are starting to pay the price.
Many business owners who sell low-priced goods like coffee and candy bars now are paying higher rates—not lower—when their customers use debit cards for transactions that are less than roughly $10.
That is because credit-card companies used to give merchants discounts on debit-card fees they pay on small transactions. But the Dodd-Frank Act placed an overall cap on the fees, and the banking industry has responded by eliminating the discounts.
"There will be some unhappy parties, as there always is when the government gets in the way of the free-market system," says Chris McWilton, president of U.S. markets for MasterCard Inc. He said the company decided that it couldn't sustain the discounts under the new rate model because the old rates had essentially subsidized the small-ticket discounts.
Merchants now are trying to offset their higher rates by raising prices, encouraging customers to pay in cash or dropping card payments altogether.
Redbox, a unit of Coinstar Inc. that rents movies through vending machines, says it is raising prices by 20% to $1.20 a movie starting next month due to higher costs, including debit-card fees. The company declined to specify how much of the increase was due to higher fees.
Dairy Queen recently told owners of its food franchises to consider offering discounts or incentives to steer customers away from debit cards. The company suggested that franchisees install small placards that say "due to the rising cost of payment card acceptance, we kindly ask you to pay with cash—especially for purchases under $10," according to a three-page memo that was reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.
A spokesman for American Dairy Queen Corp. in Minneapolis declined to comment on the memo.
The development is a consequence of last year's Dodd-Frank law that included a cap on merchant debit-card fees, known as interchange. The Federal Reserve capped merchant debit card fees at 21 cents per transaction—plus the potential of a few cents more to cover fraud costs—starting Oct. 1, down from an average 44 cents.
The debit-card part of the law has been a particularly prickly issue. Banks fought the new cap, which they say will cost the industry more than $6 billion a year. Banks recently tried to make up some of those anticipated losses by charging consumers for debit cards, but they quickly abandoned that plan due to customer outrage.
Visa Inc. and MasterCard responded to the law by eliminating the small-transaction discounts. The card networks had offered those merchant discounts to encourage greater use of debit cards for small transactions. Visa and MasterCard set interchange fees, which are collected by the card-issuing banks. Visa and MasterCard get money each time a card is swiped.
Merchants lobbied hard for a cap on debit-card fees, saying they would reduce prices if their costs fell. Instead, many say that the companies that process their debit-card transactions aren't passing on the federally mandated savings, or are raising fees on other services.
Sen. Richard Durbin (D., Ill.), who initiated the push to overhaul debit-card fees, declined through a spokesman to comment on the consequences of the law. Sen. Durbin was so influential in the measure that it is now widely referred to as "the Durbin amendment."
Jim English, who works with a group of 17 vending-machine operators, says that their interchange fees have jumped from roughly six or seven cents a transaction to the federally regulated 21 cents. About 150,000 U.S. vending machines accept credit and debit cards.
"Overnight, the variable costs of a transaction have tripled," says Mr. English, who runs a marketing company that devises payment programs for vending machines. Some machine operators will raise prices and offer 25-cent discounts for cash starting in January, he says.
USA Technologies Inc., which provides payment systems for vending machines and other self-service kiosks, has stopped accepting MasterCard debit cards as a result of the law. The company says it negotiated its own deal with Visa that is lower than the rate it was paying before the new law.
Mr. Scherr, the coffee shop owner, says that debit-card fees at one of his five stores rose to about 4.5% of sales from 3.5% of sales in the month after the new law took effect. "It's a killer for me," says Mr. Scherr, who estimates that 95% of his sales are under $15.
In the meantime, Mr. Scherr is weighing whether the expense of an ATM would justify its installation. If he gets one, he says he plans to "stick a sign on top of it, calling it a 'Durbin ATM.'"
URL: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204319004577084613307585768.html
A new law that was supposed to reduce costs for merchants that accept debit cards has instead sent Mr. Scherr's monthly processing bills much higher and forced him to reassess the way he does business.
"My choice is to raise prices, discount for cash or get an ATM," says Mr. Scherr, a lawyer who has been in the coffee-shop business for more than a decade.
Just two months after one of the most controversial parts of the Dodd-Frank financial-overhaul law was enacted, some merchants and consumers are starting to pay the price.
Many business owners who sell low-priced goods like coffee and candy bars now are paying higher rates—not lower—when their customers use debit cards for transactions that are less than roughly $10.
That is because credit-card companies used to give merchants discounts on debit-card fees they pay on small transactions. But the Dodd-Frank Act placed an overall cap on the fees, and the banking industry has responded by eliminating the discounts.
"There will be some unhappy parties, as there always is when the government gets in the way of the free-market system," says Chris McWilton, president of U.S. markets for MasterCard Inc. He said the company decided that it couldn't sustain the discounts under the new rate model because the old rates had essentially subsidized the small-ticket discounts.
Merchants now are trying to offset their higher rates by raising prices, encouraging customers to pay in cash or dropping card payments altogether.
Redbox, a unit of Coinstar Inc. that rents movies through vending machines, says it is raising prices by 20% to $1.20 a movie starting next month due to higher costs, including debit-card fees. The company declined to specify how much of the increase was due to higher fees.
Dairy Queen recently told owners of its food franchises to consider offering discounts or incentives to steer customers away from debit cards. The company suggested that franchisees install small placards that say "due to the rising cost of payment card acceptance, we kindly ask you to pay with cash—especially for purchases under $10," according to a three-page memo that was reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.
How Less Is More
The Dodd-Frank cap on debitcard fees is leaving some small merchants paying up:- 44 CENTS: The average merchant debit-card fee before new Fed rules took effect Oct. 1
- 6 to 7 CENTS: Fee some vending machine operators were paying before new rules, thanks to discounts offered by MasterCard and Visa
- 21 CENTS: Fed cap — and the amount many small merchants pay now that so-called small ticket discounts have been eliminated
The development is a consequence of last year's Dodd-Frank law that included a cap on merchant debit-card fees, known as interchange. The Federal Reserve capped merchant debit card fees at 21 cents per transaction—plus the potential of a few cents more to cover fraud costs—starting Oct. 1, down from an average 44 cents.
The debit-card part of the law has been a particularly prickly issue. Banks fought the new cap, which they say will cost the industry more than $6 billion a year. Banks recently tried to make up some of those anticipated losses by charging consumers for debit cards, but they quickly abandoned that plan due to customer outrage.
Visa Inc. and MasterCard responded to the law by eliminating the small-transaction discounts. The card networks had offered those merchant discounts to encourage greater use of debit cards for small transactions. Visa and MasterCard set interchange fees, which are collected by the card-issuing banks. Visa and MasterCard get money each time a card is swiped.
Merchants lobbied hard for a cap on debit-card fees, saying they would reduce prices if their costs fell. Instead, many say that the companies that process their debit-card transactions aren't passing on the federally mandated savings, or are raising fees on other services.
Sen. Richard Durbin (D., Ill.), who initiated the push to overhaul debit-card fees, declined through a spokesman to comment on the consequences of the law. Sen. Durbin was so influential in the measure that it is now widely referred to as "the Durbin amendment."
Jim English, who works with a group of 17 vending-machine operators, says that their interchange fees have jumped from roughly six or seven cents a transaction to the federally regulated 21 cents. About 150,000 U.S. vending machines accept credit and debit cards.
"Overnight, the variable costs of a transaction have tripled," says Mr. English, who runs a marketing company that devises payment programs for vending machines. Some machine operators will raise prices and offer 25-cent discounts for cash starting in January, he says.
USA Technologies Inc., which provides payment systems for vending machines and other self-service kiosks, has stopped accepting MasterCard debit cards as a result of the law. The company says it negotiated its own deal with Visa that is lower than the rate it was paying before the new law.
Mr. Scherr, the coffee shop owner, says that debit-card fees at one of his five stores rose to about 4.5% of sales from 3.5% of sales in the month after the new law took effect. "It's a killer for me," says Mr. Scherr, who estimates that 95% of his sales are under $15.
In the meantime, Mr. Scherr is weighing whether the expense of an ATM would justify its installation. If he gets one, he says he plans to "stick a sign on top of it, calling it a 'Durbin ATM.'"
URL: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204319004577084613307585768.html
Sunday, 4 December 2011
Visa and Mastercard – safer ways to benefit from increased holiday sales?
Thanksgiving weekend retails sales exceeded all expectations. Some retailers were big winners, whereas a few of them missed the boat. If you are betting on increased holiday sales, but do not want to gamble on specific retailers or credit card companies, perhaps you should take a look at Visa (NYSE:V) and Mastercard (NYSE:MA).
Both companies process electronic payments, i.e. credit cards and make their money but by taking a cut of each transaction.
Neither company assumes any credit risks, unlike financial institutions which actually extend credit to consumers, such as Capital One (NYSE:COF) or Chase (NYSE:JPM).
Whether consumers can pay their credit card bills when they become due or not, Visa and Mastercard will not care. They will have pocketed their slice of the transactions anyway.
Bear in mind, however, that both companies operate globally, so a potential global slowdown might negatively impact their growth. At the same time, more and more people in the world are switching from cash to credit and debit cards.
URL: http://www.tradingnewsbulletin.com/2011/11/visa-and-mastercard-%E2%80%93-safer-ways-to-benefit-from-increased-holiday-sales/
URL: http://www.tradingnewsbulletin.com/2011/11/visa-and-mastercard-%E2%80%93-safer-ways-to-benefit-from-increased-holiday-sales/
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