Web host and small business service provider GoDaddy is teaming up with payments network Dwolla, the companies are announcing today, to offer GoDaddy’s business customers an alternative to paper checks and competing online payment services like PayPal when invoicing their customers and vendors. The option will be made available to GoDaddy’s 12 million small business customer starting today.
The service was built on e-check technology Dwolla introduced last year, which allowed for both one-time and multiple payments. With this, guests could access the Dwolla network and initiate a transaction directly from an existing bank account or credit union in order to pay a Dwolla user. However, until now, the businesses would have to code this guest functionality into their own existing invoicing solutions in order to accept these payments, or they would only be able to accept payments from registered Dwolla accounts.
GoDaddy has basically now done the coding for them, by using Dwolla’s API and services to design a new e-invoicing flow for their business customers. In addition, GoDaddy made it so that neither the business nor the “invoicee” needs to first have a Dwolla account to send or receive a payment. That’s a notable achievement, since for many businesses and vendors alike, having to establish a third-party account just to make a payment isn’t really that convenient. That’s why they tend to stick with established solutions, like paying by check or PayPal, instead of making a change to a new technology, even when there’s a cost savings involved.
With GoDaddy’s service, the company designed it so that the business can immediately send an e-invoice to their customer or vendor, without having to first register upfront for Dwolla. Meanwhile, the invoicee has the option to pay with either their own Dwolla account, if they already have one, or they can simply use the e-check option, detailed above, to pay from their bank account instead.
After the invoice is paid, the business is invited to register for the Dwolla account – a process which Dwolla claims would take around 2 to 3 minutes to complete, and begins by having the business connect their account by submitting their email.
If they do so, transactions over $10 are 25 cents each (paid by the recipient), while those under $10 are free. That’s less expensive than PayPal, which charges 2.9% plus a 30 cents per transaction fee. Like PayPal, Dwolla also offers other business tools like its MassPay solution, and Auto-Withdrawal for automatic payments.
The new service, previously in beta, is being rolled out starting today to all GoDaddy business customers as an option.
