my worry for now is my name is out there to be Googled etc by said person.
Hi SimplySinful
I signed up to circle.com and got verified with my Bank (added my Debit Card), Drivers Licence (& a live selfie via the App, like they asked!) --- apparently in the UK you attach a Debit Card not a bank account because as your debit card is linked to your bank account the funds reach your account quicker.
Anyway???.. when I logged in I noticed under my (real) name (top right hand corner) when I clicked on that a drop menu appears with Settings? when you click on Settings it opens up with THREE different options of how you might want your name to appear (to other Circle users). The 3 options shown of how I want my name to appear to other circle users are:
1. My real name? for argument sake lets say JANE DOE
2. Jane D
3. janedoe@wankmale.com
So it gives you THREE different options of how you want your name to appear to other circle users (you can only be paid by others who have signed up to Circle), so for example a Client wants to pay by Deposit via Circle?. you send them a link to circle from your email address (the one you have associated/linked to your circle account) so they
don?t see your name at any time.
I spoke to Circle via the telephone number on their website, (01793 250273) they were helpful and informed me of the above?.however you might want to ring them yourself if you are still concerned.
So basically on their website it shows:
Show Me On Circle as:Option 1
Option 2
Option 3 above.
However I rang because I wanted to make sure I was interpreting what was on their website correctly. Also even though he has said (re-assured me) that that is how it works, being a belt & braces person I still intend to do further research (to see if it does work that way) and am going to download the App to my hubby?s phone and do my own ?test?.
Additionally, for those who might be interested? once verified you can have ?300 per week loaded onto it, you can apply to have it increased apparently and I think the max they will allow would be ?2,000 per week.
As I said you would have to be Verified of course to receive those amounts (so therefore obviously have to have the circle.com account in your real name but if you can circumnavigate the issue of having your anonymity protected using an email address to show to other Circle users then that doesn?t matter).
Further info on this App, which launched in April last year can be found if you Google "Circle Launches Its Social Payment Service In The UK, Partners With Barclays". Useful articles about it come up as the top 2 search results, one is Reuters (re Barclays) and the other Forbes.
It would be great if it did offer this level of anonymity as I had another App that promised the same thing (not on their website but when I contacted them via their Facebook Support page they said it was anonymous) however I tested it on my hubby?s phone it did show real full names of us both. This one (circle) seems better as it asks on the website how you want to be shown to other Circle users (which the other App didn?t at the back end, I was just relying on Support Staff to tell me that).
So if it works the way it says it does, then the Clients who are paying also have their privacy protected as well, as they too can choose to pay another Circle user appearing as an email address.
In case I don?t get round to testing it, if anyone else does before me, it would be useful if they could report back here.
P.S.
I got the info below by googling "circle.com ?300 per week". (Please note: where Bitcoin is mentioned in any search results - Bitcoin is not used in the UK).
?Limits start at ?300 per week. This is only for adding money to your Circle account from your card, and sending money directly from your card. There are no limits for transferring money out of your Circle account balance.
1. Limits reset on a rolling 7 day period.
2. We understand you may want more than ?300 per week. By sharing a few more details about yourself, you can request an increase to ?2000 per week.?
