
Dwolla Gets Into Government With Iowa Tax-Paying Plan - mjshampine
http://www.fastcompany.com/3004961/who-needs-starbucks-dwolla-gets-govt-iowa-tax-paying-plan
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JimWillTri
Not sure why you would use Dwolla to pay state taxes. Most states allow ACH
transfers.

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venomsnake
Is there any reason for the lack of IBAN style bank-bank transfers in the US,
that make this kind of startups possible and needed?

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fluidcruft
We have bank transfers. Generally, either or both sides of the transfer take
the opportunity to inject an insultingly generous processing/service fee.
These startups/services are only possible because they undercut these fees.

Trust is another big reason to be judicious with bank transfers in the US (and
where these services add value--I think they convert what the other party sees
from being account-based to transaction-based). I'm not familiar with IBAN,
but can someone drain your account if they get your IBAN?

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gst
Yes - with your account number someone could theoretically drain your account
using direct debit. In practice that never happens (and most people don't keep
their account number a secret). In addition, even if it would happen you have
more than plenty of time to reverse the transaction at your bank (which
shouldn't involve any discussion or so with the bank).

As for transactions themselves, unlike in the US where you can conduct ACH
transactions in both directions (i.e., debiting another account) IBAN
transactions are "sending only" (like email). And you typically also don't
need to whitelist/add another account first (as in the case of ACH
transactions), but just type the senders account number into the recipient
field (again, like email).

In Europe I never used any third party services, as IBAN transactions are
usually free and the easiest thing to do. In the US it's usually easier to use
something like Dwolla (or even checks!) if you want to send money to someone.

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jusben1369
Great news for Dwolla. Really impressed with Iowa too. When many of today's
headlines are how dysfunctional and at odds CA state government is with their
people here's a state going out if it's way to help advance local tech. The
best way to create a competitive hub is to focus in on one vertical first and
payments is a super large and smart one.

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killahpriest
Starbucks? I guess because you won't need the extra caffeine to get your taxes
done?

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Ataub24
I think it was a pun and shot at Square and SBux deal. Not sure though...

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jusben1369
Yes my sense was "SB is the onramp to payments acceptance by newer methods.
But we have Iowa!"

