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Noca - Payments Simplified

noca.com

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Re: Noca - Payments Simplified

#4

Post by JoshTriplett »

Looks much improved since the last time I looked at it. Last time, it looked awesome except that customers had to provide bank account information to pay with it, which will instantly drive away a huge number of customers. Now it looks like they accept credit cards, too, which makes it a viable contender.

In particular, they now have everything they need for the "lightweight payment system market". They still can't address the surprisingly large "I want to pay but I don't have any kind of credit card at all" market, though.

Re: Noca - Payments Simplified

#5

Post by cvander »

Competition is always welcomed in this market. Don't know how much users are going to use checks instead of a card, and the example only seems good in prices comparing agains authorize and paypal for small transactions, not big ones.

Re: Noca - Payments Simplified

#6

Post by thinkcomp »

I know PJ, who runs Noca. He's been working on it for several years (it used to be called Paybl). Unfortunately it suffers from the same problems as every other payment system in California that is regulated by the Money Transmission Act, which is to say it's basically illegal as of July 1. Then again, maybe he's changed the business model in some way I'm not aware of.

See...

http://www.quora.com/Aaron-Greenspan/In-Fifty-Days-Payments-...

http://www.thinkcomputer.com/corporate/whitepapers/heldhosta...

This isn't the first time I've seen a "finally, a real PayPal competitor!" post on Hacker News. I don't think people get it. There isn't going to be one any time soon. PayPal raised a hundred million dollars. It has licenses in 45-ish states and Washington, D.C. that cost about ten million dollars alone. It supports multiple currencies. The dot com boom (and the comparative lack of regulation at the time) is just about the only thing that allowed PayPal to exist. Venture capitalists (and banks) know better now, and they're not enthusiastic about investing in red tape just so Jamie Dimon and friends can make more of it.

Re: Noca - Payments Simplified

#7

Post by jacques_chester »

> For Secure Check(tm), the merchant needs to have a business checking account in a bank in the United States. And consumers can only pay with a checking or savings bank account with a bank in the United States. Currently for VISA/Mastercard Consumers can pay with Visa/Mastercard issued by a bank in United States. We are however opening up to accepting International cards/Checks soon.

So basically, no, this isn't a real competitor to PayPal at all.

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