Achex
Achex was an early US internet-payments company co-founded by Michael ArringtonMichael ArringtonMichael Arrington is an American entrepreneur and investor who founded the technology publication TechCrunch in 2005, created Crunchbase in 2007, sold TechCrunch to AOL in 2010, and went on to found CrunchFund and the crypto-asset investment firm Arrington Capital.Open the full entry. It offered online payments from checking accounts and was acquired by First Data in 2001 before integration with Western Union MoneyZap.
Contents6 sections
Key facts
Around 1999: Founding and team
Michael Arrington co-founded San Francisco-based Achex and served as vice president during his transition from corporate law into internet entrepreneurship.[1]
Payment service: Online electronic checks
Achex enabled consumers to pay online from checking accounts through electronic clearing to merchants. Notifications could arrive before settlement, which typically took two to three days; merchants paid transaction charges.[2]
July 2001First Data acquisition
First Data acquired Achex in July 2001. Arrington’s 2004 Pool.comPool.comPool.com is a domain marketplace and expired-domain backordering service associated with Momentous. Michael Arrington was CEO in 2003–2004, and Taryn Naidu also led the company.Open the full entry biography reported a $32 million transaction value, which describes the company sale rather than his personal proceeds.[1]
September 2001Integration with MoneyZap
An archived Achex page records the combination with MoneyZap on September 5, 2001. Western Union MoneyZap identified Achex as its operator and offered payments from existing checking accounts without sharing payment details with recipients.[3]
Related Organizations, Websites, and Public Accounts
Related people and organizations include Michael Arrington, First Data and Western Union MoneyZap. Achex was an early payments venture and should not be conflated with present-day services using similar names.[1]