While many banks and credit unions are dumping their card portfolio’s this
news makes one think “wow, smart move.” A new payment platform company
named RevolutionMoney announced (today) their plans to yank the rug out from
under traditional card payment processors by circumventing the credit card networks that charge merchants an average of 1.9% on transactions.

This couldn’t have come at a better time, as I spent two frustrating hours last night
searching merchant account programs looking for a better deal for my wife’s
new business. I went to bed with no resolution and angry.

Revolution Money believes they can reduce traditional fees by 75%; a mere fraction of what card companies are charging today. This is sure to make every merchant jump with joy, including myself. But this isnt jsut a one trick pony. By no mean the first to take on PayPal, RevolutionExchange (one of two products launched, today) allows consumers to transfer funds to anybody via the Internet, for FREE! Think free International wire transfers!

Now, I don’t know if that is part of the deal, but it sure makes one ponder the possibilities. Do you know how many billions of dollars are transferred out of this country by individuals, and the fees they incur? So if it’s free, why would RevolutionExchange bother. Well, that brings us to the second product announced today, and a bombshell in itself.

The RevolutionCard is a highly secure alternative to the mag-stripe cards in your wallet and will be accepted using existing point of sale equipment. The RevolutionCard is a PIN based credit card with no visible or physical information on it. The card, of course, carries an APR on balances. It’s pretty novel, but whether or not it will be accepted by the masses is left to be seen.

But if anyone can pull this off it’s the impressive team behind Revolution Money. It’s a who’s who of heavy hitters. Former AOL chairman Steve Case is the main man behind it. AOL Vice Chair emeritus Ted Leonsis will chair the company. Joining him will be former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers, former Mastercard CEO Russell Hogg, former Charles Schwab CEO David Pottruck, former Vice Chairman of JPMorgan David Golden, and former CEO of Fannie Mae, Franklin Raines. The company recently announced a $50million Series B round from Citi, Morgan Stanley, Deutsche Bank and others.

As Case puts it, “we have built an innovative Web 2.0 company based on the latest
technology to disrupt the decades-old system with the goal of offering the
industry’s most accessible, easy-to-use and secure payment system that puts
money back where it belongs, in consumers’ pockets.”

Where do I apply?

This entry was posted on Monday, September 24th, 2007 at 8:26 pm and is filed under cards, security, general. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.