Dwolla Rolls Out Mobile Payment Service With Geolocator

Dwolla Spots, an iPhone app that lets users find Dwolla merchants and purchase goods from their bank account using their mobile device, goes live.

Dwolla, an online and mobile payment startup, released "Dwolla Spots" today. The new technology, currently a free app in Apple's App Store, lets iPhone users find a merchant that accepts Dwolla mobile payments (which run over the ACH) and submit payment using their mobile device.

I downloaded the app this morning (you have to sign up for the service from a computer), but found that Dwolla does not have any Manhattan merchants signed on yet. A Dwolla spokesperson said 500 merchants have signed up so far, and more come on board daily. It does provide a Google Map of my location, and if there were any "Spots" nearby, I could make a mobile payment from my linked bank account by communicating with the merchant's Dwolla-compatible iOS, Android, or Windows 7 device or web-connected computer. The customer's location information is used only to locate participating stores. Dwolla has a flat 25-cent transaction fee.

Dwolla can pull in users' social network contacts, so that they can send money to people in their Facebook or Twitter communities.