pal

PayPal poses new threat to Groupon

As more and more companies get into the daily-deals game, the bankers behind Groupon's IPO must be banging their heads against the wall. And now, there's one more formidable entrant to give them headaches: PayPal.

The eBay-owned payments company says it is planning on offering deals as soon as the first quarter of 2012. And, according to Bloomberg News, it is taking what could be a smart approach to the ever-popular deal genre: location- and user-habit-based offers.

PayPal has more than 100 million users, and it thinks that it can leverage what it knows about those customers to … Read more

How PayPal beat communists and civil servants at logic

Those brought up in communism (in the Soviet or Cuban sense)--as well as those who have dealt with any nation's civil service--will tell you that logic is infinitely malleable.

So I was slightly less impressed by PayPal's apology for freezing an account that tried to raise money for needy children, than by its beautiful logic in first freezing the account.

Should you have missed this tale, PayPal shut down the account of a site called Regretsy because it tried to use PayPal's "donate" button to accept, well, donations.

Regretsy, knowing that if David had … Read more

PayPal in flap over freezing a 'charity' account

Here's yet another reminder that bad corporate behavior just won't go unnoticed nowadays.

PayPal this morning issued an apology of sorts after it froze an account designed to let people donate toys to underprivileged children. The impetus: a torrent of online wrath. PayPal also re-activated the account.

At issue is a dispute with a site called Regretsy, a popular blog that bashes handmade goods, what it calls "crafting failures." Regretsy had organized a gift exchange to let people buy toys for kids in need.

The site says it raised so much money that it was able … Read more

How to send money to friends through Facebook

If you forget birthdays until Facebook reminds you, or you constantly fear that your friends pay for lunch more often than you, then PayPal's new Facebook app is for you. Send Money is aptly named, and while you can choose to bundle your e-payment with a silly customized greeting card, there's no need for it. Here's how to settle your accounts:

Log on to Facebook and visit the Send Money page. Click "Send a card with money" if you want to make a card. Click "or just send money" if you want to … Read more

At WePay, planning a 'balls to the wall' 2012

PALO ALTO, Calif.--Bill Clerico may not be Steve Jobs, but he's doing something very Jobsian: "I'm pushing people to do things they don't think are possible."

Clerico is CEO of WePay, an online payments collection service that is taking on the likes of PayPal, Stripe, Braintree, and others, and which is growing--fast. Its 2012 revenues will likely be several times that of 2011, and that means a big expansion in users and employees. Plus long hours and hard work for those already on staff.

It's nearly 10 a.m. on a recent Monday, … Read more

Want more secrets? We need cash, WikiLeaks says

WikiLeaks has been forced to shut down its secret-divulging operations until it can raise cash, the organization announced today.

"We are forced to temporarily suspend publishing whilst we secure our economic survival," the group said in a statement. "For almost a year we have been fighting an unlawful financial blockade. We cannot allow giant U.S. finance companies to decide how the whole world votes with its pocket. Our battles are costly."

On a special "Donate" page, WikiLeaks argues that Visa, MasterCard, PayPal, Western Union, and Bank of America have "tried to economically … Read more

Mobile payments looking at turbulent times

SAN DIEGO--While the mobile-payment players acknowledge that partnerships are necessary for long-term viability, many are gearing up for some chaotic times.

The idea of a digital wallet and the opportunities that come from moving payments onto the smartphone were major themes at the CTIA Enterprise & Application show. American Express executive Dan Schulman used his keynote address to call for more alliances, noting that, "no single company can do this alone." The prospect of mobile payments was also the focus of one of the more prominent panel discussions today.

It's not hard to see why. Beyond getting … Read more

In Whitman, HP gets a CEO used to the spotlight

Meg Whitman's ascendency to CEO at Hewlett-Packard may be surprising, but this onetime eBay chief executive and California gubernatorial candidate is hardly unaccustomed to the limelight.

From building eBay up from a dot-com startup to an established Internet company, to her recent failed run to become California's governor, Whitman has proven herself as someone willing to take bold action, even if it doesn't always pay off. Having lived under the microscope of both Wall Street investors and the political media, she won't easily be deterred.

That's a good thing, because after a string of disastrous … Read more

Elon Musk: In 20 years, most cars will be electric

SAN FRANCISCO--In 20 years, a majority of new cars will be electric and the world's single largest source of energy will be solar power, Tesla Motors and SpaceX founder Elon Musk said today.

Speaking at the TechCrunch Disrupt conference here, the 40-year-old billionaire co-founder of PayPal shared his vision of the future, and also gave the room full of would-be entrepreneurs some sobering advice about what they should expect when trying to get companies off the ground.

"Expect it to be difficult," Musk said. "A friend phrased it well: 'Starting a company is like eating glass … Read more