It's targeted more for situations where credit/debit cards are not currently accepted. For example, large transactions for professional services. Think of it more as replacing checks, not cards.
That is one of the goals but the other goal is reducing the cost for the merchant. Merchants will prefer you to pay with Dwolla as opposed to a credit card because they don't give up as big of a fee on each transaction, this earning them more revenue.
Why? Why should there be a percentage-based fee at all for financial transactions? This is an idea that credit card companies have pushed onto the world, but there's no reason it needs to be accepted as fact.
I didn't really mean all. I did say between strangers and especially when the two are not face-to-face. Two other qualifiers: 1) when "good funds" need to be transferred immediately and 2) for dollar ranges from around $10 to $1,000. This makes up the vast majority of retail commerce for which credit cards are so well suited and widely used.
Best approach is to look for areas where credit cards are not widely used instead of trying to displace them in areas where they work really (really, really) well.
I've been wondering why I would use this and I think this comment hits the nail on the head.
But why would want to pay $3? Big payments are usually pretty well-timed and don't need to be "instant."
Hmmm, not sure where Dwolla is going with this, it seems to make more sense to laser focus on those who would find the most use for their product (big ticket buyers and sellers, not people buying a t-shirt on a whim).