Hi

I would just like to know how widely used is http://www.ikobo.com.
If you may, please post a reply if you are currently using or have had experience with ikobo and
rate it from 1-5, 1 being the lowest and 5 as the highest.

I've used it one time to make a payment on a service - it seemed ok. They are a US based company.

Enough Said.

Hello.

I've never even heard of them :)

Regards,
Thomas Currie

They are a MLM?

No - they are a payment service just like paypal. I didn't really notice much different between the way they work & paypal.

Originally posted by Incognito
Enough Said.

you are generalizing. not all MLMs are bad, although a large percentage is. :D

Originally posted by NovaW
They are a MLM?

No - they are a payment service just like paypal. I didn't really notice much different between the way they work & paypal. Yes they are a MLM with 10 pay levels totally up to 50% of all fees - 5% per level. That means that in the worst case scenario, they would keep only 50% of fees which, in my opinion, would make their profitability very doubtful.

They could become another Paypal....although highly doubtful. They could become another hostcharge.

At this point in their life, I would not trust my business to them just based on lack of history. However, seeing their affiliate/MLM structure, I would not deal with them.

Originally posted by lobaloba9
you are generalizing. not all MLMs are bad, although a large percentage is. :D Agreed....but an MLM payment processor....structure looks a bit scary to me.

are they insured like Paypal?

a sidetrack: what is Paypal doing right that the others are not able to emulate? there are so many similar companied like them such as ikobo, anypay etc. but none of them is as successful as paypal. WHY?

I never noticed their affiliate system. I guess what they do with 50% of their 5% is up to them, but I can see how it would turn some away due to the multi-tier structure. But we've recently started using it to pay someone and the system works well for normal payments to individuals.

Gary

Originally posted by Incognito
Yes they are a MLM with 10 pay levels totally up to 50% of all fees - 5% per level. That means that in the worst case scenario, they would keep only 50% of fees which, in my opinion, would make their profitability very doubtful.

They could become another Paypal....although highly doubtful. They could become another hostcharge.

At this point in their life, I would not trust my business to them just based on lack of history. However, seeing their affiliate/MLM structure, I would not deal with them.

I never noticed that part. My experience with them is only 1 transaction to make a payment for something purchased - the setup was just like paypal - validating a bank transaction. I'd never heard of them prior to that instance.

Very much like Stormpay, ikobo is built around the fact that Paypal doesn't like MLMs. In fact, paypal will stop you from using your account to pay for, and BE paid for being involved with MLMs. See stormpay.com if you are curious. So Stormpay and ikobo are ways for MLM people to sell to each other AND get paid an additional amount on all their transactions.

If you aren't involved with an MLM, skip ikobo and stick with what works and is reliable: paypal all the way.

Looking into the bright side, there transaction fee is low %3.99 + $.29 . And they have more countries covered. There latest feature is that all accounts come with the VISA electron card instead of the ordinary IKard.

iKobo is as popular as you make it.

Originally posted by SE Kyle
iKobo is as popular as you make it.

I like your response, although I think it would be best to generalize it: "Anything as as popular as you make it." I think that sums almost everything up very nicely.

I did mean it in general. :cool:

They don't seem to have support department at all. They never reply. and btw, I hate their MLM advertisemenst on their site.

Just.......!

Greetings!

We have fully applied as a merchant with iKobo, but we haven't used them yet for taking online payments except for some personal payments (testing of their system). It worked with no hassles though.

Regarding support, I don't think support is non-existent. Do you have an iKobo account? If you have, login to their web-based email and use your ikobo webmail to send support issues. It usually works. I think the email address is support[@]ikobo.net or .com.

We are still studying them before ever implementing. Merchant application requirements is somewhat similar to PaySystems. And the rate is quite ok. The only drawback is the ATM withdrawal charge. But, it is down to minimal $1.5 now with the new Visa-Electron card.

Take care.

:)

Hello,

I have sent emails to support@ikobo.net ( & com also) but no reply at all.

Well I will sign up for a personal account and again send emails to them. I have sent over 10 follow ups in 10 days but absolutely no response at all.

I will post here how it goes.

Thanks.

Originally posted by lobaloba9
a sidetrack: what is Paypal doing right that the others are not able to emulate? there are so many similar companied like them such as ikobo, anypay etc. but none of them is as successful as paypal. WHY?

With alot of companies on the web, being the FIRST helps bigtime. The same thing can be said for ebay, monster.com etc. Although there are competative sites for these respective genres it is more challenging to take away the user share that is happily using the service.

Haven't seen anything posted about this in a while. Wanted to know if in the last few months anyone has tried Ikobo and what your experience has been.

We initially had some problems getting our limits lifted. New accounts can only send/recieve $200 or so. Just a break down in communication I think. Faxes were sent, emails were sent, and only some were received. But once that was sorted out, we haven't had any problems (we use it weekly).

Gary

Having all sort of problems with their support, which is... uhmmmm. I tell you, you can never relay on it ;)
Just had some orders for a few PC components lately (my old PC suddenly died...for good) and although one of my transactions got declined (within one day, the seller sent me absolutely all the documents to certify that their merchant never took a penny out my i-kard), ikobo charged me. Since then, it's been a nightmare trying to reach a resolution with the guys.
Sometimes i truly think they're laughing at me. Sometimes i believe they have nothing to do with the job they're working for. And believe me, i'm not exactly the kind of person that enjoys to complain.
Well anyway. If you can't get a supervisor there (i recall 'Louis' that fixed a past issue within a few days), it's more than likely that you will have to wait upto 120days (the regular procedure takes from 30 to 90 days) for a charge back or a billing issue, because you won't be able to explain what happened.
Or if you will, noone will understand you and you'll be required, daily, the same or extra documents. Or they will just close your phone or chat session ;)

Almost forgot: they're having problems from more than one week with Mastercard and Discover, which means you'll only be able to pay using VISA. No ETA 'til this would get fixed, although it's quite understandable.

I'll rate them 3 or maybe 4, because they're easy to use and the fees aren't that high.

Adrian.