Ask HN: What are the options for sending money out to users?

This subject has been gnawing at me as well for the past month; mind sharing more information about what your application is? My startup revolves around the best option or options as well.

Check-by-mail is being considered as an option (there are a few providers that automate the process).

There's also the technical possibility of using unlinked credits by a credit card processing gateway (user submits credit card # but instead of getting charged the money goes on their card), though so far they (gateway providers) have been very uncooperative about permitting large amounts of the behavior.

Some banks will allow direct ACH's but usually charge a fee per transaction that might make it prohibitive. I wouldn't be surprised if some banks charged less than others.

In any case, my startup is nearing launch and I'd relish the opportunity to meet people trying to solve similar problems.

WePay has a marketplace model that I've used. It allowed me to collect money and send money. Each user must have a WePay account but you can create one for them using the api. Pretty seamless overall.

It depends I think how much money, how often and in exchange for what. If you are paying out big amounts in exchange for "labor" (e.g. paying freelancers who do work for other users), checks, ACH, and wire are the only serious solutions unfortunately. For smaller amounts and gift/bonus type payments, you might be able to use electronic gift cards (e.g. Amazon)-- if I recall, you only need an email address and possibly name to send a "gift card" this way.

If you don't want to use PayPal (why not? everyone uses it) keep it traditional - bank transfers and cheques.

Prepaid debit cards?