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So, I tried Dwolla

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Re: So, I tried Dwolla

#51

Post by jokoon »

Maybe the time you spent doing it the way you used to do was not in vain at all. Security is not really something you can sell at a poor price.

If they can lower their prices, and if their business allows them to retain your money, maybe they want to target clients who are 120% cristal clear clean, because that's how most client are.

They're not bugged by that tiny percentage of people they prefer not to validate because paranoia can rule you out easily. You had the bad luck of having a bad smell even on all the paperwork you have them.

That's like calling brown people terrorists. That's not racist or mean. That's just unfortunate. Sometime security is a real bitch. That's just pickup up the pieces. That feels bad, but it's for a good cause.

Re: So, I tried Dwolla

#52

Post by eridius »

jokoon wrote: post #51

Maybe the time you spent doing it the way you used to do was not in vain at all. Security is not really something you can sell at a poor price. If they can lower their prices, and if their business allows them to retain your money, maybe they want to target clients who are 120% cristal clear clean, because that's how most client are. They're not bugged by that tiny percentage of people they prefer not to validate bec…

I was with you right up until you tried to justify racial profiling. That's not security, that's racism.

Re: So, I tried Dwolla

#53

Post by eridius »

mutagen wrote: post #47

I had some minor issues with Dwolla or at least my perception of how they work that left a bad feeling for their brand and operations. A buddy paid me money he owed me through Dwolla. I made the 'mistake' of leaving it in the Dwolla account instead of pushing it on to my bank account. A month later his bank was allowed to pull that back out because he had overdrafted.

> A month later his bank was allowed to pull that back out because he had overdrafted.

How is that even possible?

Re: So, I tried Dwolla

#54

Post by jrockway »

ok_craig wrote: post #6

The other day I was trying to make some kind of transaction with Dwolla, and before I could, they asked me a series of questions to verify my identity. The questions had obviously been pulled from a background check based on my name that I didn't know they had done. It was asking me what the price of a house was when I originally bought it, and what street I lived on in a given time period. Outside of this being real…

I also now have a reasonable idea of the price range my dad paid for a house that we moved into when I was 7, which I never would have known or asked about otherwise.

It's a matter of public record. You can probably type the address into Google to find a site that shows you the full transaction history on the house. Here's the house where I spent most of my childhood:

http://www.redfin.com/IL/Third-Lake/186-Mainsail-Dr-60030/ho...

Re: So, I tried Dwolla

#55

Post by ok_craig »

jrockway wrote: post #54
ok_craig wrote: post #6

The other day I was trying to make some kind of transaction with Dwolla, and before I could, they asked me a series of questions to verify my identity. The questions had obviously been pulled from a background check based on my name that I didn't know they had done. It was asking me what the price of a house was when I originally bought it, and what street I lived on in a given time period. Outside of this being real…

I also now have a reasonable idea of the price range my dad paid for a house that we moved into when I was 7, which I never would have known or asked about otherwise. It's a matter of public record. You can probably type the address into Google to find a site that shows you the full transaction history on the house. Here's the house where I spent most of my childhood: http://www.redfin.com/IL/Third-Lake/186-Mainsail-…

Yeah, not a privacy violation it seems. I didn't know that. For me, it was just unexpected and weird to experience.

Re: So, I tried Dwolla

#56

Post by bricestacey »

uuilly wrote: post #40

I tried to use Dwolla and it it was absurd. I set my account up fine. My friend sent me $1200 for a ski lease. I withdrew it and it appeared to work. Days later when the money did not appear in my bank account, I checked back and it said, "processing withdrawl" (or something like that.) It said that for many days before I contacted them. They said I needed to scan my drivers license and send it to them. The only acco…

I've had a VPS require photo ID (ServInt)

Re: So, I tried Dwolla

#57

Post by Xorlev »

g_h wrote: post #46
ok_craig wrote: post #6

The other day I was trying to make some kind of transaction with Dwolla, and before I could, they asked me a series of questions to verify my identity. The questions had obviously been pulled from a background check based on my name that I didn't know they had done. It was asking me what the price of a house was when I originally bought it, and what street I lived on in a given time period. Outside of this being real…

Dwolla did not perform a "background check" in the sense that you may think. When dealing with online fraud, it's common to use identify verification services like IDology (and a few others) that basically provide an API to generate these types of questions based on public records matching your name/address. Many banks use the same verification services.

This. Experian provides the same service, it's usually ~$3/pop if I remember right. This gives you those "Did you live with a Paul Foo at 378 Combinator Way from 2006-2009?" questions.

Re: So, I tried Dwolla

#58

Post by viggity »

at-fates-hands wrote: post #38

>>>>>>"What I will not gladly do is let a bunch of folks who I have no idea who they are other than a web site ever again reach into my bank account." Maybe you should have thought about that before you decided to let them handle so much of your money. To me, this is putting a LOT of faith in web site to handle that much money right away on a brand new account.

wtf. they are a lot more than just a website. they're a front end on top of "The Members Group" which IIRC is a financial services company for a ton of banks. But to say that all they are is a website is pretty lame. Sorry you couldn't move 5 figures of cash on hours after you create an account.

Re: So, I tried Dwolla

#59

Post by ryanackley »

My Dad owns an ACH processing company. This is typical for any electronic payment processor. It does sound like they went overboard with the identity verification.

It just goes to show that disrupting payment processing is not just about some awesome new payment API. It's also about preventing fraud and crime without pissing your customers off. From my observations, this problem has yet to be solved.

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