5 ms·

This Mobile Payments Company May Self Destruct In 15 Minutes

20 points by jasonlbaptiste 16y ago

pg 16y ago
I feel sure I've read this before and yet it's dated July 11...
- jasonlbaptiste 16y ago
  Something similar related to the company and its antics appeared on HN a bit ago.
- pwim 16y ago
  Here's a post from a couple of months ago on it: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1317004 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1317004
  - pg 16y ago
    Interesting phenomenon. What I remembered was not reading the TC article, but thinking the things it said.
ovi256 16y ago
If their slogan "What you need, When you need it" seems familiar to anybody, it's because is lifted straight from domain-parking pages.
stcredzero 16y ago
I don't get it. How is this any more convenient than a wire transfer or PayPal, just because it involves your cell phone?
- ramchip 16y ago
  I think the point is that you use it "on the go" (as written on the banner), not on the internet. Here in Tokyo you can already pay stuff with the cellphone, although it's not hugely popular (people are used to cash here, not credit cards). I could even take the train by sliding my cellphone at the wicket instead of buying tickets or charging a magnetic card. It's certainly more convenient than paypal ;)
  - stcredzero 16y ago
    Actually, I was thinking along exactly these lines. For the original purpose of getting transfers of cash from her parents, there would have to be integration with other devices/parts of the infrastructure, working with your cellphones. Absent that, it wouldn't be any more convenient than PayPal.
- CaptainZapp 16y ago
  It is extremely convenient in developing and often massivly underbanked countries. Many people don't have - or are not even able to open - bank accounts and transferring money (for example by handing it to a bus driver) was fraught with risk and pretty inconvenient. Safaricom introduced a massively successful scheme, called M-PESA, in Kenia and plans to expand it (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M-PESA http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M-PESA). The Economist has an interesting article on how it works and the benefits it provides to developing countries. (http://www.economist.com/node/16319635 http://www.economist.com/node/16319635). Implementing something like this in a developed country doesn't seem to make a whole lot of sense. And the implementation with the 15 minute self expiring code) sounds tedious at best.

pg 16y ago

I feel sure I've read this before and yet it's dated July 11...

jasonlbaptiste 16y ago
Something similar related to the company and its antics appeared on HN a bit ago.
pwim 16y ago
Here's a post from a couple of months ago on it: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1317004 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1317004
- pg 16y ago
  Interesting phenomenon. What I remembered was not reading the TC article, but thinking the things it said.

If their slogan "What you need, When you need it" seems familiar to anybody, it's because is lifted straight from domain-parking pages.

stcredzero 16y ago

I don't get it. How is this any more convenient than a wire transfer or PayPal, just because it involves your cell phone?

ramchip 16y ago
I think the point is that you use it "on the go" (as written on the banner), not on the internet. Here in Tokyo you can already pay stuff with the cellphone, although it's not hugely popular (people are used to cash here, not credit cards). I could even take the train by sliding my cellphone at the wicket instead of buying tickets or charging a magnetic card. It's certainly more convenient than paypal ;)
- stcredzero 16y ago
  Actually, I was thinking along exactly these lines. For the original purpose of getting transfers of cash from her parents, there would have to be integration with other devices/parts of the infrastructure, working with your cellphones. Absent that, it wouldn't be any more convenient than PayPal.
CaptainZapp 16y ago
It is extremely convenient in developing and often massivly underbanked countries. Many people don't have - or are not even able to open - bank accounts and transferring money (for example by handing it to a bus driver) was fraught with risk and pretty inconvenient. Safaricom introduced a massively successful scheme, called M-PESA, in Kenia and plans to expand it (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M-PESA http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M-PESA). The Economist has an interesting article on how it works and the benefits it provides to developing countries. (http://www.economist.com/node/16319635 http://www.economist.com/node/16319635). Implementing something like this in a developed country doesn't seem to make a whole lot of sense. And the implementation with the 15 minute self expiring code) sounds tedious at best.