Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

So, I tried Dwolla

blog.goodstuff.im

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

61–70 of 151 posts

Re: So, I tried Dwolla

#61

Post by dopamean »

wmf wrote: post #9
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…

My understanding is that Dwolla is trying a fairly unusual approach to handling fraud, which is that they pay out of their own pockets for fraud (instead of kicking it down the line as all other financial institutions do) but this requires that they actually prevent fraud, not just identify it after the fact. And the cost of really stopping fraud turns out to be something that many people do not feel comfortable payi…

If this is the case then the story is still creepy but I support this attempt to combat fraud.

Re: So, I tried Dwolla

#62

Post by abawany »

Their passive-aggressive credential demanding is nasty - I tried to create a basic account and then the demands started. Calling them clowns is insulting - to clowns. Dwolla: you are supposed to be upstanding midwestern folks: be G-D UPFRONT about your requirements!

Re: So, I tried Dwolla

#64

Post by alex_h »

eridius wrote: post #53
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?

This is something about the US banking system that I find completely crazy. Other banks/companies can 'pull' money from your account. Where I come from, all bank transfers are 'push' as far as I'm aware. Ie. the sender of the money has to specifically authorize an amount to be sent. In the US it appears that in a lot of cases, the receiver of money can specify the amount they want to receive and simply pull it from the senders account.

Re: So, I tried Dwolla

#66

Post by etfb »

America is a funny place. You can get 127 varieties of salad dressing at your local supermarket, but you can't pay for it except with cash, unless you want to be hit with credit charges, and when you do the prices are not as marked. Australia, in sharp contrast, has laws requiring that the price on the shelf matches the price at the register -- some of them even allow you to get incorrectly-priced items for free, although technically this is a voluntary agreement among shops, not a law. Also, Australia has EFTPOS nearly everywhere; in fact, people are justly suspicious of retail businesses that don't provide EFTPOS, because that's one of the first signs that the business is probably going to go under. And if you want to transfer money, the same system that makes EFTPOS ubiquitous makes direct deposit from one bank account to another a very simple thing. The result is that cheques ("checks" in US English) are very rare indeed, and people really only use credit cards for online purchases or when they're already living beyond their means. (Which means the use of a credit card in day-to-day spending is another warning sign!)

Granted, it's hard to get all 127 varieties of salad dressing here, so there is that.

Re: So, I tried Dwolla

#67

Post by wmf »

alex_h wrote: post #64
eridius wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> A month later his bank was allowed to pull that back out because he had overdrafted. How is that even possible?

This is something about the US banking system that I find completely crazy. Other banks/companies can 'pull' money from your account. Where I come from, all bank transfers are 'push' as far as I'm aware. Ie. the sender of the money has to specifically authorize an amount to be sent. In the US it appears that in a lot of cases, the receiver of money can specify the amount they want to receive and simply pull it from t…

My guess is convenience. If you had to authorize a certain amount then in some cases people wouldn't authorize the right amount which would cause exceptions. It's much easier to just write merchants a figurative blank check and chargeback in case of an error.

Re: So, I tried Dwolla

#68

Post by [deleted] »

etfb wrote: post #66

America is a funny place. You can get 127 varieties of salad dressing at your local supermarket, but you can't pay for it except with cash, unless you want to be hit with credit charges, and when you do the prices are not as marked. Australia, in sharp contrast, has laws requiring that the price on the shelf matches the price at the register -- some of them even allow you to get incorrectly-priced items for free, alt…

[deleted]

Re: So, I tried Dwolla

#70

Post by timv »

etfb wrote: post #66

America is a funny place. You can get 127 varieties of salad dressing at your local supermarket, but you can't pay for it except with cash, unless you want to be hit with credit charges, and when you do the prices are not as marked. Australia, in sharp contrast, has laws requiring that the price on the shelf matches the price at the register -- some of them even allow you to get incorrectly-priced items for free, alt…

people really only use credit cards for online purchases or when they're already living beyond their means

If I'm parsing what you're saying correctly, then that doesn't match my experience.

Most people I know will use a credit card at an EFTPOS machine in preference to using their ATM card, and lots of people use the credit card regular because it's simpler than regularly getting cash from the ATM.

My current trip from Home -> Work does not go directly past any ATMs that are free for me (I pass a couple, but the ATM operator will charge me to use them), so I regularly buy everyday items on my credit card.

Heck, I buy my train ticket (a whole $6.60) on my credit card each morning because

1. it doesn't cost me any more than paying with cash

2. it saves me from having to worry about whether my wallet is empty, when my focus is on getting in to the office

Now, I also have a cheque book in a drawer somewhere, but I think the last time I used it would have been when about 3 years ago when I needed to give my parents some money and my Mum didn't have her bank account details with her (which would have allowed me to transfer it electronically)

Post reply on HN