Friday, July 15, 2011

Try it, you'll like it (or maybe not)....

I read press releases everyday about what are pitched as the latest and greatest innovations in payments. But, then, I go behind the "lines" and sign up (if necessary), and actually try the product or service. You need to do that too, before rendering an opinion.

I have (or had if they have gone four paws to the sky) the following accounts; Serve & the predecessor Revolution Money , Obopay, BlingNation, PayPal, Square, Mazooma, Kwedit, Rixty, Starbucks, PaybyTouch, Mobibucks, ClipperCard(BART NFC), Safeway echeck, Google Check-out, itunes, BillmeLater, Click n'Buy, Verified by Visa, Amazon PayPhrase, TwitPay, etc., way too many to name (but I tried).

There is one thing to keep in mind, though, when you do this. In a prior phase of my career, it was important for me to have a credit card from every brand and every major bank since I was calling on all of them and it was awkward to take someone from Visa out to lunch and pay with an Amex card. Once when applying for a mortgage, everything was excellent in my application but the one hit I took was having too many accounts. :-)