According to the company, the SmartPay service is designed specifically for small groups like sports teams, class parents, faith-based groups, endurance sports clubs, membership organizations such as YMCA Y-Guide & Princess programs, the Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts of America, as well as any other organization where funds are regularly pooled for events or activity expenses.

When using the service, those making the payments are charged a $0.99 "convenience" fee plus 6.9% of any payment amount that goes over $20.00. These fees cover the Amazon Payment transaction processing fees and are also what provides CircleUp with cash flow. However, the fees aren't charged until after the first 30 days have passed as the first month of SmartPay is entirely free. They're also hardly enough to be of much concern - especially when you factor in what banks' ATM fees are like these days!

The SmartPay service is live now at www.circleup.com and has recently integrated with eteamz, a service that hosts team sports websites for over 3 million members. Additionally, SmartPay allows AOL and Facebook users to login with either of those accounts thanks to OpenID and Facebook Connect integration.

This service might not be the "sexiest" of web applications we've reviewed as of late, but it addresses a real need that small groups, organizations, and teams have when it comes to collecting money. It falls directly into that "this may actually be useful" group of services, so while the early adopter crowd might not be swooning over it, we'll bet there are some "team moms" who are.

How CC:Betty Works

What makes cc:Betty interesting is the simplicity involved in the creation of these online collaborative "mailspaces." CC'ing (short for carbon copying) is a common task for email users, which makes adding this one extra step to your workflow neither time-consuming nor difficult. And beyond adding the cc: information (Betty@ccbetty.com), no additional action is necessary on the user's part in the workspace creation process.

It's the cc:Betty service that does all the heavy lifting on the back end. Using smart technology, "Betty" pulls out the email threads and posts them into a single, tabbed view. Addresses found within the emails are mapped out in Google Maps, dates are placed into a workspace calendar, and attachments like photos, videos, documents, and audio files are also retrieved and given their own tabs within the workspace, as are links. The people involved in the email conversation are listed in their own tab as well.

With cc:Betty, all members are sent an email with a link to the online workspace when you add "Betty" into the cc: field upon replying to an email. The other participants can then click the link and visit the web site without having to create an account at cc:Betty or download any additional software. If they want to participate by viewing the content or downloading files, they can then set up an account and validate their email. However, some people may find the service's auto-responder a bit spammy, so be aware of that. An option to turn that setting off would be a good addition. 

Why You'll Want This

A service like cc:Betty makes the process of creating a collaborative space - such as one for a project you're working on - faster and more efficient than what's possible when using similar tools. Although cc:Betty might not include all the features of a SharePoint site, for example, it's far more efficient. For that reason alone, it could almost become disruptive in the workplace for creating sites around short-term projects. CC:Betty dramatically cuts down on the time it takes to create an online workspace - a process often so time-consuming that workers often don't bother doing so, opting to work out of their email instead.

CC: Betty's CEO and co-founder is Michael Cerda, who also created Jangl, an internet phone company which unfortunately had to close its doors in spring of 2008. 

CC:Betty is open to the public today - you can get started by simply adding Betty@ccbetty.com into the cc: field of an email.