This information is a brief synopsis of some of the information from the Dwolla website, Dwolla.com.

We hope this information answers some of your questions about the Dwolla Payment Processing service.

Dwolla is a funny name, I’ve never heard of them.  Who are they?

Dwolla (dwolla.com) is a Des Moines, Iowa-based company that is on a mission to radically change the electronic payments industry. The company was founded in 2008 on the premise of bypassing credit card Interchange fees (aka: swipe fees) and providing a low-cost payment service to businesses and consumers. Dwolla has created a proprietary payment network similar to that of VISA and MasterCard, and Dwolla’s network does not charge a fee for the transaction like a traditional merchant account does.  Instead, the company eliminates credit card use altogether by linking consumers’ Dwolla accounts with their checking accounts.

The service may sound similar to PayPal, and in some ways it is, but Dwolla is approaching the concept from a very different angle.  With help from a few banking and financial institution investors, Dwolla has created a payment network that eliminates all of the common fees that merchants incur from accepting card payments.
Additionally, the company’s network eliminates the common transfer delays and fraud that plagues similar networks such as the ACH network that most banks utilize. Essentially, Dwolla is a global system for low-cost, instant cash transfers.

Why Dwolla instead of a “big name” ACH payment processor?

First, Dwolla allows you, the client, to initiate ACH payments to Blue Dolphins Aquatics.  
Second, Dwolla ACH transactions are very low!  That saves BDA money which in turn saves you money!

While PayPal and credit cards are much easier for the user, we have to carefully consider how those costs will factor into our fee structure.

Is using Dwolla safe?

Dwolla is helping shape a new payments infrastructure, as evidenced by FiSync, Dwolla's proprietary real-time solution, and validated by Dwolla's role with the steering committee of the Federal Reserve's Fastest Payments Task Force.

Dwolla works with top security industry professionals to build and maintain the platform, and keep your information secure. Dwolla transactions do not pass sensitive financial information to recipients, removing significant information security risk.

• The Dwolla platform puts you in control of your information.
• Transactions do not pass sensitive financial information to recipients, removing significant information security risk.
• Dwolla utilizes tokenization that replaces high-value data in a financial transaction with a time-based, tokenized message.
• The Dwolla platform and systems are monitored and undergo routine penetration and intrusion testing to protect our community.
•  Dwolla offers two-factor authentication, an optional feature that helps safeguard your account at login.
• When you register or log in to Dwolla, Dwolla confirms your browser is running TLS 1.0 or higher, which secures the communication from your browser to Dwolla.
• Your data resides on servers that are protected both physically and electronically.
• The Dwolla platform edge is equipped with strong cipher suites controlled by Transport Layer Security (TLS).
• The Dwolla platform stores sensitive data at rest using strong cryptography provided by the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) with 256 bit keys, Galois Counter Mode (GCM) and ongoing key rotation.
• The Dwolla platform sits behind layers of controls including firewall and intrusion protection.

Okay, I'm ready to use Dwolla.  Now what?
     We have provided detailed directions here:  Paying with Dwolla.