Which Mobile Payments Provider is Right for You? - 0 views
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The race right now is primarily between three parties – PayPal, Dwolla, Square and newcomer Clover Pay. Each of these services have its ups and downs, but it’s worth noting that they can all be used for peer-to-peer payments and that’s how we’ll be reviewing them.
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PayPal Setup: Nearly instant. You can sign up for a PayPal account in just a couple of minutes, then have it funded from a credit card almost immediately after. Pros: Widely accepted payment form, in use by millions. Full-featured mobile app on iOS and Android, including the ability to scan checks for deposit. Tight integration with the USPS and eBay makes for easy collection and shipping. Cons: Often criticized for high fees. PayPal tends to lock down accounts for investigations with a guilty-until-proven-innocent approach. Terms of service disallow many actions, and are quite obtuse in important sections.
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Dwolla Setup: Signing up for and using Dwolla is quick, but you’ll need to tie it to your bank account to fully leverage its abilities. This can take 3 to 5 business days, depending upon your bank. But, if your bank supports instant transactions, you won’t have the typical transfer lag. Pros: Dwolla charges only $0.25 per transaction, no matter how much money is being transferred. A highly-secure mobile app is available for Android and iOS. Instant transfers to and from your bank account, if your bank is part of the participating network. Dwolla is integrating with merchants, allowing you to pay directly from your account. Instant feature will “loan” you up to $500, charging a $5 fee only if you don’t pay it back before your statement is over. Cons: This could be a pro, depending on how you see it. Dwolla has no debit card function. It’s intended to be used as an extension of your existing bank account. Smaller base of users means that you’re not as likely to find a Dwolla customer for exchanging funds.
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