Braintree is giving $50k in processing to every startup • Hacker News Board

Re: Braintree is giving $50k in processing to every startup

#71

Post by pbreit » Fri, Mar 07, 2014, 6:03 AM UTC

tomasien wrote: post #64

RobPfeifer wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What am I using to login with my bank? Yodlee?

Nope - our own custom API that is way faster and (in our opinion) way safer. NOT to say Yodlee isn't safe, we just think we're safer.

Well, I'm sorry to say, you don't look safer. The URL changes from knoxpayments to paidez which looks super fraud-y! And you're not using good SSL certs. You do realize that you are requesting bank account logins from all your users? I couldn't find any information on your web site to help me determine if I should give you my online banking credentials.

Re: Braintree is giving $50k in processing to every startup

#72

Post by pbreit » Fri, Mar 07, 2014, 6:04 AM UTC

jgalt212 wrote: post #28

nayefc wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Square is tackling different type of merchants. It's not quite this that is keeping Square from an IPO; but they messed up in a few ways along with Chase (their merchant acquirer) releasing the same product undercutting the Square margin. Not to mention PayPal's ability to lower the price or the international market is almost gone for Square (others have copied Square).

I hear you on that. I guess it depends how narrowly one defines market. And I guess the more narrowly one defines it, the harder it is to justify a valuation. That being said, I suspect my downvotes were a function of Jack Dorsey fanboys knee-jerking more so that my overly broad definition of the payments market.

No, I think it was just sort of an ill-informed, senseless and inaccurate comment.

Re: Braintree is giving $50k in processing to every startup

#73

Post by klynch » Fri, Mar 07, 2014, 6:17 AM UTC

chourobin wrote: post #68

Important note, I believe this doesn't include marketplaces.

Hi, I work for Braintree. This is open to marketplaces as well, and payouts are always free.

Re: Braintree is giving $50k in processing to every startup

#74

Post by simonk » Fri, Mar 07, 2014, 7:35 AM UTC

asenna wrote: post #32

I am working on a marketplace project right now and I was wondering if anyone can suggest an international payment processor other than PayPal. Braintree Marketplace would have been perfect but it is currently only for the US. The same goes for Balanced Payments and several other options. (My project involves freelancing and finding small projects - Sign up page at http://www.ladr.io/ if anyone interested)

Would Stripe connect not work here?

Re: Braintree is giving $50k in processing to every startup

#75

Post by huhtenberg » Fri, Mar 07, 2014, 7:51 AM UTC

michaelmior wrote: post #57

huhtenberg wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> That decision is not easy to undo How so?

I assume he's referring to the fact that you have to write Braintree-specific code (if you choose not to use Spreedly). And if you later decide to switch gateways, you have to do that again. So unless you're convinced Braintree is viable in the long term, you might lose out on the savings you get now with the time wasted doing a rewrite.

That's how I understand it too. But this rewrite will be what? ... a couple of hours of work? A day tops.

Re: Braintree is giving $50k in processing to every startup

#76

Post by jpincheira » Fri, Mar 07, 2014, 8:43 AM UTC

"for any U.S.-based startup", then I closed the tab. But great, good option "for any U.S.-based startup", they seem like a fair and cool payment gateway.

Re: Braintree is giving $50k in processing to every startup

#77

Post by bostonvaulter2 » Fri, Mar 07, 2014, 10:11 AM UTC

tomasien wrote: post #17

jtchang wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you able to take visa/mastercard?

We are not - we sync directly with people's online banking to make ACH payments without asking people to know their account and routing number.

Does that mean you require their bank account login info? If not how do you access enough infor for ACH?

Re: Braintree is giving $50k in processing to every startup

#78

Post by btown » Fri, Mar 07, 2014, 11:01 AM UTC

lbarrow wrote: post #52

dangrossman wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Have you ever had to change gateways? Several times. And have lost customers in the process, since any customer info stored at the gateway is lost and getting hundreds of people to re-type their billing info in is a big undertaking and a big pain. The cost of "hopping gateways" for any SaaS has little to do with the cost of the gateway or the cost of development. It's all about customer retention. When I left one m…

You wouldn't lose customer data if you left Braintree: https://www.braintreepayments.com/landing/data-portability-p...

What are some examples of qualified providers that will accept this type of data?

Re: Braintree is giving $50k in processing to every startup

#79

Post by michaelmior » Fri, Mar 07, 2014, 12:13 PM UTC

huhtenberg wrote: post #75

michaelmior wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I assume he's referring to the fact that you have to write Braintree-specific code (if you choose not to use Spreedly). And if you later decide to switch gateways, you have to do that again. So unless you're convinced Braintree is viable in the long term, you might lose out on the savings you get now with the time wasted doing a rewrite.

That's how I understand it too. But this rewrite will be what? ... a couple of hours of work? A day tops.

I guess it depends on your product and how deeply you need to integrate.

Re: Braintree is giving $50k in processing to every startup

#80

Post by tomasien » Fri, Mar 07, 2014, 1:54 PM UTC

pbreit wrote: post #71

tomasien wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nope - our own custom API that is way faster and (in our opinion) way safer. NOT to say Yodlee isn't safe, we just think we're safer.

Well, I'm sorry to say, you don't look safer. The URL changes from knoxpayments to paidez which looks super fraud-y! And you're not using good SSL certs. You do realize that you are requesting bank account logins from all your users? I couldn't find any information on your web site to help me determine if I should give you my online banking credentials.

I agree, we've done a pretty bad job of explaining and presenting ourselves thus far.

I'm not making any excuses, but we spent the last year building, speeding up, and securing the engine that handles the connections to bank accounts and the system to process and guarantee "good funds" ACH payments. We had an opportunity to go to Launch 2014, and even though the front end presentation of everything to the user was, in a word, "fucked", we made the decision to go and do the best we could to make it usable. This thread alone has helped me find a lot of the "anxiety" points people are having, and the customers I talk to everyday are getting me more. You'll see Knox back on HN soon with a much, much improvement experience.