GoDaddy, the popular website hosting company known for its
Scottsdale, Ariz.-based GoDaddy developed its Get Paid online and mobile payments service by incorporating technology from PayPal, Dwolla and Stripe. The service launched June 30, enabling users to accept credit cards, debit cards, PayPal transfers and eChecks through the Automated Clearing House.
Earlier this year, GoDaddy laid the groundwork for its Get Paid service through offerings such as
"This new service definitely builds on our past relationships with Dwolla, PayPal and Stripe," says Steven Aldrich, senior vice president of applications for GoDaddy.
Small-business owners kept telling GoDaddy that cash flow was a significant problem, Aldrich says. Any dollar not paid on time made a big difference when their annual revenue is in the $40,000 range, he says.
GoDaddy expects service-based merchants will use its Get Paid offering to show their customers invoices on a mobile phone or tablet and accept card payments through a PayPal Here mobile card reader. After receiving a payment, Get Paid e-mails a digital receipt to the customer, Aldrich says.
Many small-business owners using GoDaddy's Web services were also using PayPal to accept payments, making it easier for GoDaddy to serve clients through Get Paid, Aldrich says.
"We worked with PayPal, Stripe and Dwolla because they all had an open set of APIs and could integrate into the Get Paid application itself," Aldrich adds.
A small-business owner who already who uses another mobile card reader such as Square would not get the full benefit of using the Get Paid application, Aldrich says. "Square is a self-contained application and payment processor that could not break out their payment component."
The Get Paid service also lets merchants e-mail invoices from a mobile phone or tablet. The client would have a choice of payment options PayPal, Dwolla or Stripe when opening the electronic invoice. The Get Paid application steers the customer to the payment window of the business web site to enter payment information. The business owner is notified when the client initially opens the invoice, Aldrich says.
GoDaddy set out to resolve payment and tracking woes through Get Paid.
"We heard a story in which an architect sent a bill to a client, who put it on their desk with the intent to pay it, but it got buried under other mail," Aldrich says. "Three months later, the client realized he hadn't paid, but the architect also was unaware because he had no way to track payments."
Get Paid users will be able to accept payments and create and send invoices through their mobile phones, laptops or tablets.
"We want the service to connect the business and the customer in a closed-loop way with the Get Paid offering," Aldrich says.
GoDaddy supports Dwolla as an eCheck option because it charges a flat fee of 25 cents per transaction, making it an appealing option for small business owners who have high-value transactions.
"They may want their clients to use Dwolla because it is much more efficient from a use-of-money perspective," Aldrich adds.
The service is initially available to the Web hosting provider's nine million U.S. customers. GoDaddy will monitor international interest in the application in the coming months.
GoDaddy customers can choose from three levels of Get Paid to obtain the service, from a basic "starter package" at $3.99 a month to a premium level at $14.99 a month for annual packages. Packages cost slightly more if the business owners opt to pay in monthly installments rather than pay for a full year of service.
The top package includes weekly sales and expense summaries as well as recurring invoices for clients who are billed regularly.
