The fee is the killer, especially when you're in competition with PayPal's ability to pay friends for no fee when funded through a bank account.
GroupMe: Split the Bill
21–30 of 41 posts
Re: GroupMe: Split the Bill
#22One of the biggest lessons I've learned building matchist so far (http://matchist.com/talent) is that there is a delicate balance between when my opinion is king and when data is king.
In my opinion, GroupMe isn't solving a problem with this feature (for many of the reasons others have commented on here). But I'm assuming GroupMe has a good amount of data proving that this problem exists. I sure hope they do, because in this case, data should absolutely trump their opinion of whether or not this is a problem to be solved.
Re: GroupMe: Split the Bill
#23Maybe I'm just not as social as other people, but bill splitting and chipping in has never been a problem for me. Ever. On a handful of occasions I've had someone in a group I was in say they were strapped, and I've covered their portion of something. Others have done the same for me. Someone buys lunch for me if I have no cash, I get their lunch next week. Buying a gift in an office for someone? Well, I've not worke…
Square.
I'm happy footing the bill if I can get payments from everyone else via credit card right at the spot.
Cash also works but more than likely everyone will have a credit card. If they don't, then cash.
Re: GroupMe: Split the Bill
#24Bill sharing has been a hassle for me since I have two roommates, but I've been using Splitwise without any complaints. From the looks of it, this is taking the group SMS approach, which I would find overwhelming. I get e-mails whenever bills are added and that's good enough for me. Nice work on the UI, that was the first thing I noticed.
Re: GroupMe: Split the Bill
#25I eat in large groups often and we only split evenly on occasion. It almost always never happens. To charge per transaction makes this even less useful (to me in particular). I personally find something like Venmo much more practical where one person fronts the bill (and gets rewards/points) while the rest Venmo what they owe on the spot. It's never a fair even split.
Re: GroupMe: Split the Bill
#26[deleted]
Re: GroupMe: Split the Bill
#27Just a data point from one person's experiences: I feel like check splitting is always a bigger problem for the restaurant/server than it is for the people paying. All the customers need to do is pull out a credit card. It's the server that actually has to split the bill and you can always see the discomfort on his/her face when you ask them to split it AFTER they give you the check. Just let them know before orderin…
If it's really a persistent problem for servers, maybe they should think about asking themselves in advance of taking the order.
Doesn't work that way, the default method--by far--is one check. So they'd annoy and possibly offend, say, 98 people out of 100 when the 2 or so that are splitting the check can say so before ordering.
Re: GroupMe: Split the Bill
#28Maybe I'm just not as social as other people, but bill splitting and chipping in has never been a problem for me. Ever. On a handful of occasions I've had someone in a group I was in say they were strapped, and I've covered their portion of something. Others have done the same for me. Someone buys lunch for me if I have no cash, I get their lunch next week. Buying a gift in an office for someone? Well, I've not worke…
Bill split apps are really nice if you live in a shared housing/dorm type situation. At our hacker house, we're always going out for dinner together, or sending someone out to get food, or ordering groceries on Instacart - saves so much time not having to use cash, or keep track of who got what beforehand. Really wish this was an option while I was in college. We've been using Split&Pay ( https://itunes.apple.com/us/…
> saves so much time not having to use cash
...really?
Re: GroupMe: Split the Bill
#29Earlier quoted context omitted.
I feel that. We can be old geezers together. We've had a solution to this "problem" for centuries: cash. If your group is too lazy to ask the server to split the tab 4 ways, what in the world makes you think they're all going to pull out their apps and pay this way? Then there's inevitably someone who doesn't have a smartphone, or doesn't have that app, or doesn't want to sign up for a new payment account, or doesn't…
"We can be old geezers together" Not only that but it's like Nero is fiddling while Rome burns. North Korea is building up an arsenal to strike the US. And our best and brightest are solving big problems like this.
The best and brightest are working as US diplomats, or are doing intelligence gathering on NK's capabilities, or are maintaining our nuclear arsenal. It's only within the HN, Silicon Valley echo chamber that the "best and brightest" are working on social networks for cats.
Re: GroupMe: Split the Bill
#30Earlier quoted context omitted.
Bill split apps are really nice if you live in a shared housing/dorm type situation. At our hacker house, we're always going out for dinner together, or sending someone out to get food, or ordering groceries on Instacart - saves so much time not having to use cash, or keep track of who got what beforehand. Really wish this was an option while I was in college. We've been using Split&Pay ( https://itunes.apple.com/us/…
> saves so much time not having to use cash ...really?
I don't really have a use for the split myself. But I definitely understand that it could be easier than cash.
I never have cash. Ever. My paycheck is direct deposit. Almost everywhere I got accepts debit cards - even vending machines and meters. I occasionally get money out for a farmer's market or similar event, but it's always for something specific and very much the exception to my spending habits.