Just few days back, I came across an article about an internet startup, Twitpay. It's a Atlanta based start-up and like many other sites and third-party applications, Twitpay too is based on Twitter, a social networking website. So what does Twitpay do?

It simply facilitates your payments by sending a twitter update. For example, If you want to pay $10 to your friend, lets say Droopy, then you can simply send a Twitter update "@Droopy twitpay $10 for dinner" through your mobile or a third party application like twitterfox . This will transfer $10 to Droopy's Twitpay account.The company monitors the public stream of messages for the keyword “twitpay” and facilitates the exchange. And once you have over $10 in your Twitpay account (less applicable fees), you can spend your balance on an Amazon gift card, a Twitpay charity, or on Twitpay itself as the service is so brilliant. You can always credit your Twitpay account through Paypal. As the saying goes, there is no free lunch, Twitpay charges a nominal fee for this service. For all transfers exceeding $1, Twitpay will take a flat cut of 5 cents.

Concept of Twitbanking;
In its simplest form, its an easy way to settle dinner or little borrowings between two friends. But on large scale, it predicts the paradigm shift in online shopping. For example, if you want to buy a book, lets say Google Story, from Amazon.com, you can send a twitter update "@amazon twitpay $25 Google Story". Though this assumes the integration of your twitter account and amazon account, which is anyway inevitable in Web 2.0, but the ease of making payments with the fact that Twitter is already accessible on everyone's mobile would make it the most preferred way of doing business online.

But Michael D. Ivey, its chief executive and co-founder, says it could also make it easier to donate money during a disaster like Hurricane Katrina or an earthquake. “Ideally we want to enable social giving on Twitter,” he said. “But beyond that, we could enable charitable giving, such as to the Red Cross. We’re very excited to be able to help people do good over Twitter.”

The service is still in trial phase but I believe it's going to be the next big thing on Internet. So guys watch out for Twit Banking.

http://expertsjam.wordpress.com/2008/12/27/watch-out-for-twit-banking/

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