

Dwolla Grid is here. Cash just got more secure than plastic. - abrudtkuhl
http://www.dwolla.org/blog/grid-is-here-cash-just-got-more-secure-than-plastic/

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aidenn0
Okay, after reading that page, I still don't know what Dwolla Grid is.

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wccrawford
I think it's magic, seeing as how it's 'free' and can keep your info secure
like that.

Neither of which I believe.

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jslampe
Ha, fair enough.

The Members Group is a financial services company (serving roughly 2 million
members) and is one of our main investors and security partners. Working
together with them, we've been able to provide Grid's distribution for free.

But you do bring up a good point to clarify. While the Grid is free, using our
rails is not. In our online and mobile platforms, we charge a flat fee of 25
cents, no matter the size of the transaction. So, when a third party does
build on top of our network, we still hold onto that quarter. This is our only
fee.

Sorry for misleading you. I'll change the verbiage.

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thinkcomp
Jared,

I'm pretty sure your assumptions about what it means to have The Members Group
as an investor need to be double-checked. I believe you're still going to need
licenses to operate in most states.

Aaron

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abrudtkuhl
licensed for what?

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anamax
dwolla grid looks like it holds and transfers money for people, which sounds
somewhat "bankish". (IIRC, paypal managed to skirt that line, at least for a
while.)

For example, if you do a $15k transaction, do you have reporting requirements?

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jslampe
Hey, everyone I'd invite you all to checkout some other coverage that may help
clear things up a bit:

-[http://www.siliconprairienews.com/2011/06/dwolla-releases-gr...](http://www.siliconprairienews.com/2011/06/dwolla-releases-grid-a-facebook-connect-for-its-payment-network) -[http://thenextweb.com/apps/2011/06/07/dwollas-grid-api-could...](http://thenextweb.com/apps/2011/06/07/dwollas-grid-api-could-make-cash-more-secure-than-plastic/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheNextWeb+%28The+Next+Web+All+Stories%29)

Honestly, we severely underestimated the demand and intrigue Grid would garner
among certain tech circles (we mainly built this to assist in our financial
services product, called FiSync).

We understand you all have questions, many of them as a result of encountering
something "new." We'd be happy to help clarify any questions you might have.

Also, feel free to check our recent coverage
(<http://www.dwolla.org/help/dwolla-in-the-news/>). Hopefully, combined with
this information, we'll be able to better communicate what Grid is.

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sgornick
I'm not sure I like this: \- [http://www.dwolla.org/blog/wp-
content/uploads/2011/06/uuiy.p...](http://www.dwolla.org/blog/wp-
content/uploads/2011/06/uuiy.png)

Zaarly is requesting permission for the following: "Allows money to be pulled
out [by Zaarly] and sent to your contacts."

Seriously?

I want to opt-in for each purchase. I want only one-time use transactions, I
refuse to grant some third party the ability to suck money from my account.
That's why I'll never use ACH or a debit card for subscription-based services.
This sounds like that is exactly what I'ld be doing?

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abrudtkuhl
You can opt-in for each purchase... it's optional to grant 3rd party
permissions

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jslampe
To add onto that, if you think about it, a lot of other payment platforms
already do this without your knowledge.

How else do you think you get stuck with recurring magazine charges for
Highlights Magazine... Or is that just me? Anyway, when we do it you have
total and utter control over the access third parties have.

Another way to look at it: What if Visa allowed you to see everyone that has
had access to your billing information to revoke or change it as you pleased?
We thought that'd be huge, especially because you, the consumer, aren't
exposing personal information. Also, because 3rd parties aren't allowed to
access or store your credentials, they don't have the liability of protecting
it.

It's still permission oriented, like swiping, but centralized for independent
control.

Go here to see what it will look like to manage those "permissions":
[http://www.dwolla.org/blog/wp-
content/uploads/2011/06/Grid-c...](http://www.dwolla.org/blog/wp-
content/uploads/2011/06/Grid-consumers.png)

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cfinke
Cash has always been more secure than plastic.

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JonnieCache
Yeah. That is the most baffling part of this wholly baffling post. Unless you
conflate "plastic" with "credit cards" and count the ability to retract a
payment as a security feature, which is confusing, if not dishonest.

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kylemaxwell
I work for a payment processor and so I'm interested in the space, but I'm not
quite following. I see a lot of conclusions rather than any explanation behind
it. Disappointing since I'd like to see something new and cool here.

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grok2
Confused about the cost. At the end of the article it says -- "Nothing. It’s
free. For everyone.". At the bottom of the page it says -- "Dwolla is just 25
cents per transaction.".

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jslampe
Hey, I went ahead and updated that per a conversation below, sorry for the
confusion. Yes, we do keep our 25 cents and is still far cheaper than the 2-6%
interchange and 30 cent processing fees associated with the other networks.
It's also a safer network for developers, as they're not responsible for
handling and storing credentials (#sony).

To clarify, I kept the update (the thing I think you're quoting)at the bottom,
but changed some of the verbiage in the post to better reflect this.

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pbreit
Why is Dwolla using a .org? Also, I think a plain English description of what
Dwolla is or is trying to do would be helpful (and I've been in the payments
business for the past 20 years).

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mrzerga
like...total confusion... confusing article. confusing comments....

if it quacks like a duck, that it must be a.. paypal?

or how are you guys different from paypal, again?

something about third party developers....how are you going to atract 3rd-
parties if I as a consumer after reading post and comments still do not
understand what your service does, and what are the benefits...apart from
privacy - this stuff is just plain pointless in this day and age....

