Webware

PayPal on Tuesday is introducing a new service for parents with kids who are in high school or college. Called Student Accounts, it centers on the use of a special PayPal-branded Mastercard debit card that's tied to a parent's PayPal accounts. The parent acts as the provider and can funnel money in whenever they feel like it at predetermined dates, or--at what will most-frequently happen--the behest of their kids.

Some of the perks include no overdraft fees and the use of a debit card that's not tied to a particular bank account, meaning the balance can come from a variety of sources.

The system has more of an allure for parents though. It's easier for them to dole out cash and track where it goes. In other words, your kid can have the $20 they said they needed for gas money, but if it ends up being for the late-night beer run, you're going to know about it.

The other design behind the card, and one that goes far beyond tracking beer money spending, is to create an ecosystem of PayPal users that become acclimated to handling their finances within the service's confines. Considering parent-child money transfers may happen long after college attendance is complete, PayPal has incentive to get both parties used to dealing with its system.

A good example of this is that these students will one day have the option to "graduate" to having their own full PayPal accounts that they manage on their own and that includes a complete history of transactions they made when they were in school. Don Fotsch, who is PayPal's VP of user experience and design, told me that you cannot currently do this--but that it would be worked in by the time some of the early users reached that point. PayPal will also be working on a way to let students integrate any outside income they're getting from an after or during school job to be able to continue using that debit card on other purchases.

Of course, PayPal being PayPal there is a cost to this service. PayPal takes a $1 cut for every ATM withdrawal, which comes on top of any ATM fee considering the card is not affiliated with any banks. There are also the typical PayPal percentage fees for using that debit card outside of the U.S. either on purchases or trips to the ATM. For things like online purchases, or in-store purchases, there are no fees or limits though. There also aren't any sign up fees, load card fees, or annual fees.

One thing that makes the service really neat is that if the child runs out of money, they can send a text to PayPal to request more. The parent then gets a text message from PayPal asking if they want to transfer the money and can reply with a simple yes or no. The money is then piped into the account within two minutes.

As Fotsche explained to me, this system worked out great for him when his daughter needed to spend an extra $10 on a checked bag at the airport. But parents could also just set up one of these cards for their kids as a real emergency credit card and one they wouldn't have to worry as much about if it were stolen since it couldn't be maxed out. And even if some parents do end up setting up one of these cards for such a purpose, that's two users already in PayPal's pocket.

They're here--sort of. Twitter has launched the early beta phase of its "verified accounts" program, a background-check for celebrities and other prominent users of the service to weed out impersonators and fake accounts. If they pass the test, they get a graphic "badge" much like a PayPal verified account's.

"We're starting with well-known accounts that have had problems with impersonation or identity confusion," an explanation from Twitter read. "We may verify more accounts in the future, but because of the cost and time required, we're only testing this feature with a small set of folks for the time being. As the test progresses we may be able to expand this test to more accounts over the next several months."

Twitter's team is rolling this out a bit prematurely because there are some powerful people breathing down their necks: the manager of the St. Louis Cardinals has filed a lawsuit against the service after someone started using it to impersonate him. There have also been embarrassing snafus involving a fake Dalai Lama account and a prankster who impersonated the Austin, Texas police department. By rolling out even a very bare-bones verification program, Twitter at least looks like it's doing something about the problem.

Right now, Twitter's verified accounts are mostly well-known ones (like @mashable), which suggests that the verification process thus far hasn't been particularly high-maintenance.

Here is the curious part: Twitter is currently only offering this service to individuals, not businesses. That raises the question of whether account verification will eventually be part of a paid "Twitter for business" account service that's rumored to be in the works. The presence of lawsuits, however, may have derailed plans to charge for account verification.

Either way, I suppose, you could get caught up in the debate over individuals who are businesses (Robert Scoble, anyone?), but that's a blog post for another day.

Opera, announced Thursday that it has inked a deal with Skyhook Wireless that will bring geolocation to its browser. According to the company, those who download the geolocation-equipped Opera browser will be able to share their location with any site that supports it and get information about related products and services in their area.

Skyhook played an integral role in making the geolocation possible. The company's Wi-Fi Position System makes it possible for any computer or mobile phone with a wireless adapter to be located.

In conjunction with the release of a new Opera build that supports geolocation, the company also released an API that will allow Web developers to add the Skyhook location platform to their site, so they can interact with Opera browser users. Download the browser here.

AOL might have enjoyed its best days in the late 1990s, but the company is still the most beloved ISP, according to a new study from Forrester Research. Forrester polled nearly 4,600 consumers about their experience dealing with ISPs. AOL topped the list for usefulness and simplicity. Overall, the company's "Customer Experience Index" rating was 71 percent, putting it atop the list of ISPs across the U.S.

Visible Measures, a company that provides video tracking and measurement services, announced Tuesday that it has raised $10 million in a Series C funding round that was led by Northgate Capital. According to the company, it plans to use the funding to expand its operation.

Mortgage search site, Home-Account, announced Thursday that it has raised $1 million in seed funding from Charles River Ventures and other investors. The company will use the funding to invest in its growth for its recently launched site.

Home-Account is a mortgage-finding service with a little twist. You tell it about your situation (value of home or amount of refinance you're looking for, location, income, etc.) and it gives you advice on looking better to banks, so you get the good rate--or these days, any rate at all. It also monitors mortgages for you, alerting you when a good one comes along. It doesn't make money by lead generation, like most loan-finding sites do, but it does cost $9.95 a month. The longer the company keeps looking for you, the more money they make. You have to trust that if the best mortgage for you is available right now, they'll just tell you and not squeeze you for the subscription fee.

The company is launching at Demo 09.

I do expect that there will be dozens if not hundreds of services popping up this year that aim to save consumers money or improve their financial situation. It's going to be a craze. Look for the books, too. Home-Account looks decent, but consumers should also pay attention to Mint and other services that track finances and generate potentially money-saving offers for users.

If you're already using Pageonce on your BlackBerry, get ready for version 2.0.

On Wednesday, the Silicon Valley company is releasing an upgrade to its productivity application.

Instead of getting a fresh lick of paint or a slew of new features, Pageonce 2.0--which lets you view status feeds for your social networks, e-mail, flights, and finances from a centralized app--will simply, importantly, give you full managerial control over the app's basic functions. Starting Wednesday, you'll be able to register, add accounts, and delete them from the phone.

While the new functionality is more a win for first-time users than for those who have been around since the early beta, being able to join up and build your feed from the phone is critical if Pageonce is to virally succeed. It also seems prudent, I should add, to let people delete accounts on a mobile application with your bank balance, stock portfolio, and credit card charges.

We'll post Pageonce 2.0 for BlackBerry here when it goes live Wednesday. It will also be available over the air at m.pageonce.com for many BlackBerry phones, including the touch-screen Storm.

On Wednesday Google formally announced its support as a provider for the OpenID 2.0 protocol, offering some site owners a way to let users log-in and register for new accounts using existing Google account information. More importantly, Google will be letting these same users manage all their linked account information in one central location.

This new log-in offering is not available to all site owners just yet. Google has set up a sign-up form where developers can apply with their URL and OpenID identification to get access. Plaxo and Zoho are two of the first sites to already have the new system in place, with Zoho having offered a similar option since mid-April.

As many have already noted this isn't OpenID proper. Microsoft's usage of OpenID, announced on Tuesday at PDC, will let users simply drop in their special OpenID URL as their identifier, forsaking the need for a Google account. Google's foray into this is strictly as a provider, adding extra value for those who register for a Google account, while keeping users with OpenIDs from other providers out.

OpenID enthusiasts shouldn't fret though. Just because Google isn't opening up its own sites to OpenID log-ins from others doesn't mean it's not around the corner. Google's Eric Sachs notes that the company is working to try and combine OpenID and identity management service OAuth, which means there's still work to be done on the personal information front. Google is unlikely to jump into being a service provider for OpenID until this is squared away.

Related: Five old-fashioned Web concepts that need to die

Updated 10/20/08 with a product download link.

I just demoed the prerelease version of Pageonce for BlackBerry, an app that will help track your personal finance and other online accounts.

For those of you unfamiliar with the product of which I speak, Pageonce (covered here and here) is a one stop shop for accessing all your online accounts from your mobile phone (as of today that's just the iPhone).

You sign up for an account online and begin filing the details for any number of personal accounts. There are templates you can choose by category, such as airlines for travel, Netflix and Amazon for entertainment, and, of course, your banking and credit card accounts. If your account type isn't there, you can add it in by hand.

After the initial setup, which can take some time if there are a lot of accounts you'd like to track, you'll be able to sign in from the BlackBerry to view your transactions, credit limits, and balance statements chronologically or by individual account.

If all this inputting of personal details sounds a little scary--after all, who would lightly enter their financial information anywhere?--keep in mind that Pageonce is shielded by 256-bit encryption and that Pageonce sends you e-mail alerts of suspicious activity if you or someone claiming to be you spends above your usual levels.

In the Advanced Security tab on BlackBerry, you'll also be able to lock Pageonce to your specific device. If anyone tries logging on from another device, your account will be deactivated to keep your information secure. If you're sharing financial information with someone else, however--a spouse, perhaps--Pageonce does support simultaneous sign-ins, so you can both track your cumulative spending, stock portfolio, and due dates for your next bill.

Pageonce is a much prettier and more functional app on the iPhone, however it proves fast and easy to use on the BlackBerry. Pageonce is currently free of charge and free of advertisements, though CEO Guy Goldstein confirms that banner ads will soon premiere for both platforms. Goldstein is also toying with the idea of making Pageonce for BlackBerry a premium product in the future, so you'd best get to downloading while the downloading is good and free.

While I am personally slow to share my bank account numbers and other sensitive data, those with more expansive comfort zones will find Pageonce a useful tool, especially if you travel often and have limited opportunities to check your statements online.

You can download Pageonce for BlackBerry by pointing your mobile browser to www.m.pageonce.com.

Intuit shared details of bookkeeping app QuickBooks 2009 on Monday. With this release, the company aims to broaden the focus beyond the ledger book, providing a management center for small businesses that includes expanded online banking, support for transactions in more than 100 currencies, and 12 months of free Web hosting.

The applications are set to arrive in stores October 8.

The 2009 release targets businesses that do work globally, whether that means say, shipping vintage Disney toys to eBay buyers in Japan or employing basket weavers in Uganda. At least 30 percent of QuickBooks users handle international transactions, according to Intuit.

Multi-currency support enables invoices, bill payments, and wire transfers in most of the world's currencies, with online updates and historical tracking of exchange rates. Wire transfers can be made in 100 currencies through QuickBooks Merchant Service, while the other features support 158 currencies. Users can add custom currencies, such as Ithaca Hours in upstate New York or Linden dollars for Second Life.

Intuit is also offering users a free Web site for 12 months at an Intuit domain name. Drag-and-drop page designs come from Homestead, a 2007 acquisition. Once the free period expires, monthly hosting costs are $4.99.

QuickBooks offers banking center capabilities, so users won't need to hop to banks' separate Web sites to check on the status of accounts.

Intuit says its Live Community peer-to-peer tech support, with 2.6 million users since its introduction in 2007, increasingly is being used for general business advice. The context-sensitive question-and-answer interface is docked along the right edge of the QuickBooks interface.

The built-in QuickBooks Messenger enables users of multi-user editions of the applications to chat with each other while logged in.

A new Company Insights view provides quick access to balances, money owed, reminders, and reports.

Expanded tools for accountants include Client Data Review to scan for client errors.

For $99, QuickBooks Simple Start Edition targets users with the most basic bookkeeping needs. The full-featured Pro Edition costs $100 more for one user, or a total of $379 for two people and $549 for three people. QuickBooks Premier, which offers industry-specific flavors, costs $399, or $749 for a pair of users and $1,099 for three-person access.

Quickbooks, one of the leading accounting packages for small businesses, has just released web interfaces for Blackberry and iPhone. The iPhone version, seen to the left, sports a very slick UI and allows easy, at-a-glance access to all of your financial information, entered into Quickbooks Online.

At first glance, the web app provides a simplistic view of things. Features included are looking at who owes you, who you owe, vendors, employees, and bank accounts. Despite the initially simplistic look, as you drill down, you uncover a whole new level of detail.

Even though this seems to be a killer app for referring to your financial information, I have to point out some points where they have missed the mark. First off, a standalone app, available through the App Store would have been nice for the iPhone, but it's not completely necessary. The largest oversight here is not being able to edit or add data. In my opinion, this would be one of the primary usage scenarios for this app. That said, this is version one of this app and we may see this sort of functionality being added at some point down the line.

If you are already a Quickbooks Online user, these new web interfaces for Blackberry and iPhone are nice perks. I'm not sure that the introduction of these apps would be the deciding factor in jumping to Quickbooks Online, but it might help the decision.

You can try it out for yourself, before signing up by going to https://accounting.quickbooks.com/m and tapping "Demo."