iKobo as a Payment Processor

iKobo as a Payment Processor
Dr. Ralph F. Wilson, Wilson Internet Rocklin, CA
Dec 1, 2004, 14:25

"You mentioned iKobo.com on your website. I've joined iKobo.com, but still worry about using it as a payment processor. The reason I joined it was because I can't use PayPal since they don't support my country. I've read pros and cons in several forums about Ikobo.com. What do you think about it? Is iKobo.com trustable and reliable? Why do some people say it is a scam?" -- Mohamad Zaki Hussein, Indonesia

I don't believe iKobo (www.ikobo.com) is a scam. Since money transfer services such as iKobo are subject to fraud attempts, when the system detects activity in an account that might be fraudulent, it freezes withdrawals from the account immediately until it clears up the matter, which might be in just a day or two. Some may be objecting to that.

PayPal differs from iKobo, in that PayPal develops relationships with banking systems in various countries and allows merchants in those countries to withdraw money from PayPal to their bank accounts. While US merchants no longer require customers to join PayPal, that still is a requirement for merchants outside the US. PayPal currently allows merchants to sell in 45 countries in their choice of currencies -- US Dollars, Canadian Dollars, Euros, British Pounds Sterling, and Japanese Yen.

iKobo, on the other hand, allows merchants in any of 170 countries to receive credit card payments at discount rates similar to PayPal's -- 2.99% plus a 29¢ transaction fee. Merchants can withdraw money from their accounts using an i-Kard (a debit card) via a Visa Plus ATM terminal in nearly any country in the world. There is no set-up fee for merchants, but they must apply for and receive an i-Kard in order to begin to take credit cards. The company has just added a 99¢ per month charge for i-Kard holders. Customers do not need to join iKobo and have an i-Kard in order to engage in a credit card transaction. Credit card payments are made to merchants in US dollars only.

iKobo is currently used for emigrants to transfer money to family in their home countries, though it is attractive to merchants in Africa, Indonesia, and other countries where PayPal is unavailable and merchant accounts are prohibitively expensive.