5 ms·

Show HN: Bill Skip: Delay Paying Any Bill for 6 Months

6 points by ad_paddock 11y ago

heydonovan 11y ago
Why not just sign up for PayPal Credit directly?
- ad_paddock 11y ago
  @heydonovan thanks for the comment! A couple of reasons. First most billers do not accept paypal so there is no way to use it to pay a bill. Second, the "no interest/no payments" special financing is not available for cash advances using PayPal Credit (i.e. if you pay yourself). So Bill Skip is the only way to use that promo.
stab_176 11y ago
Pretty cool guys
- ad_paddock 11y ago
  Thanks! We're really trying to help people deal with tight financial times. The 4% fee is lower then credit cards, payday loans, auto title loans, etc.
  - tzs 11y ago
    ...well, it's low assuming that the person pays back on time. I'd expect that a fair number of people will use the service because they are in financial trouble, and some of those will then find 6 months later that they are still in trouble and won't be able to pay you back. It looks like those people will face a bit more than 4%: > If you do not pay in full within the 6 month period, interest (Annual Percentage Rate is 19.99%. Minimum interest charge is $2.00) will be calculated from the posting date (which is usually within a few days after the purchase date) and will be billed to your account. It will be interesting to see how this business ends up being perceived. I can see it going two ways. If most of your customers end up being people who just need a little help with a bill now and then and are able to pay in six months and so only incur the 4% rate, I think this will be perceived as an innovative and useful service. If a lot of customers turn out to be people who are in more serious difficulty and many cannot make the six month deadline and so get hit with the 19.99% annual rate, expect a firestorm of criticism accusing you of exploiting the poor. I'm curious about the legal aspects of this. In most states with usury laws, 19.9% is above the limit, although there may be exceptions for specific types of loans or for specific types of businesses. Have you done your legal homework on all this and obtained any required licenses and so on, or is this one of those "disrupt first, try to satisfy the regulators later" kinds of business?
    - ad_paddock 11y ago
      Great thoughts tzs, thanks for this comment. We're hoping to perceived as being helpful. We think it's pretty transparent and we also send users monthly reminders advising them to pay at least 1/6 of their bill each month. In terms of your last question it's definitely disrupt first! However we did consult a lawyer who thinks we might be ok as PayPal Credit is licensed throughout the U.S. But we'll see!
    - brbsix 11y ago
      While this site is new, the underlying basis is not. I recall using PayPal Credit via G.E. Capital nearly a decade ago. Albeit not for a bill, but for an online purchase. The terms were the same. I was in college at the time and even though I had the cash on hand, it was helpful to have some flexibility on when to repay it without incurring any interest.
ad_paddock 11y ago
We got a few "test submissions" from the HN community already which is great lol. But we can't pay a bill if your name is HJSKLAL haha For anyone who submitted a test it would be awesome to get your feedback on the flow and product in general!
bentossell 11y ago
Saw this on Product Hunt :) what is your twitter username to add you as a maker?
- ad_paddock 11y ago
  Awesome! It's @highintent. Totally didn't know that we are on there so I'll head over and answer comments their as well. Thanks!
zoidb 11y ago
You probably should put a prominent notice somewhere that this is not endorsed or affiliated with paypal (unless it is). If it isn't, the "powered by paypal" at the top is a bit misleading I think.
- ad_paddock 11y ago
  Good thought, maybe we'll revise to say "secure transactions via PayPal" or the like. Thanks for your suggestion!
throwaway2016a 11y ago
On Chrome on OS X at least, this webpage seems to be using jankyscroll.js http://zweig.co/jankyscroll/ http://zweig.co/jankyscroll/ You might want to look into if any Javascript is interfering with the scrolling.
- ad_paddock 11y ago
  Awesome, thanks for spotting this!

6 points by ad_paddock 11y ago

heydonovan 11y ago

Why not just sign up for PayPal Credit directly?

ad_paddock 11y ago
@heydonovan thanks for the comment! A couple of reasons. First most billers do not accept paypal so there is no way to use it to pay a bill. Second, the "no interest/no payments" special financing is not available for cash advances using PayPal Credit (i.e. if you pay yourself). So Bill Skip is the only way to use that promo.

stab_176 11y ago

Pretty cool guys

ad_paddock 11y ago
Thanks! We're really trying to help people deal with tight financial times. The 4% fee is lower then credit cards, payday loans, auto title loans, etc.
- tzs 11y ago
  ...well, it's low assuming that the person pays back on time. I'd expect that a fair number of people will use the service because they are in financial trouble, and some of those will then find 6 months later that they are still in trouble and won't be able to pay you back. It looks like those people will face a bit more than 4%: > If you do not pay in full within the 6 month period, interest (Annual Percentage Rate is 19.99%. Minimum interest charge is $2.00) will be calculated from the posting date (which is usually within a few days after the purchase date) and will be billed to your account. It will be interesting to see how this business ends up being perceived. I can see it going two ways. If most of your customers end up being people who just need a little help with a bill now and then and are able to pay in six months and so only incur the 4% rate, I think this will be perceived as an innovative and useful service. If a lot of customers turn out to be people who are in more serious difficulty and many cannot make the six month deadline and so get hit with the 19.99% annual rate, expect a firestorm of criticism accusing you of exploiting the poor. I'm curious about the legal aspects of this. In most states with usury laws, 19.9% is above the limit, although there may be exceptions for specific types of loans or for specific types of businesses. Have you done your legal homework on all this and obtained any required licenses and so on, or is this one of those "disrupt first, try to satisfy the regulators later" kinds of business?
  - ad_paddock 11y ago
    Great thoughts tzs, thanks for this comment. We're hoping to perceived as being helpful. We think it's pretty transparent and we also send users monthly reminders advising them to pay at least 1/6 of their bill each month. In terms of your last question it's definitely disrupt first! However we did consult a lawyer who thinks we might be ok as PayPal Credit is licensed throughout the U.S. But we'll see!
  - brbsix 11y ago
    While this site is new, the underlying basis is not. I recall using PayPal Credit via G.E. Capital nearly a decade ago. Albeit not for a bill, but for an online purchase. The terms were the same. I was in college at the time and even though I had the cash on hand, it was helpful to have some flexibility on when to repay it without incurring any interest.

ad_paddock 11y ago

We got a few "test submissions" from the HN community already which is great lol. But we can't pay a bill if your name is HJSKLAL haha For anyone who submitted a test it would be awesome to get your feedback on the flow and product in general!

bentossell 11y ago

Saw this on Product Hunt :) what is your twitter username to add you as a maker?

ad_paddock 11y ago
Awesome! It's @highintent. Totally didn't know that we are on there so I'll head over and answer comments their as well. Thanks!

zoidb 11y ago

You probably should put a prominent notice somewhere that this is not endorsed or affiliated with paypal (unless it is). If it isn't, the "powered by paypal" at the top is a bit misleading I think.

ad_paddock 11y ago
Good thought, maybe we'll revise to say "secure transactions via PayPal" or the like. Thanks for your suggestion!

throwaway2016a 11y ago

On Chrome on OS X at least, this webpage seems to be using jankyscroll.js http://zweig.co/jankyscroll/ http://zweig.co/jankyscroll/ You might want to look into if any Javascript is interfering with the scrolling.

ad_paddock 11y ago
Awesome, thanks for spotting this!