Short answer, yes, you can. The main reason why Satoshi Nakamoto even created Bitcoin in the first place was to make “the internet’s money.” However, crypto has been so widely used as a trading asset and store-of-value that one tends to forget its utility as a transfer-of-value. This article will look at using crypto as a payment method. We will also look at CoinSmart’s crypto payment solution – SmartPay.
The problem with traditional payments
International, cross-border transactions have seen tremendous innovation over the years. However, two problems still remain – intermediaries and chargebacks.
Problem #1: Intermediaries
Financial intermediaries are necessary when it comes to transferring cash cross-border. These intermediaries are essential since they provide a trustworthy and reliable bridge between two parties for monetary transfers. For example, PayPal is a trustworthy intermediary between a customer and a merchant.
However, this intermediary-based payments model has multiple issues:
- Hidden fees: Intermediary banks can charge a hefty fee for cross-border transactions during SWIFT transactions. Same for financial intermediaries like PayPal.
- Processing times: Every financial entity has its own processing time. So, more the intermediaries, more the processing time. This can be a big problem in SWIFT transactions.
- Trust: At the end of the day, you will need to trust the intermediary to do a good job. Ideally, “trust” shouldn’t be a factor when doing monetary transactions.
Problem #2: Chargebacks
Friendly fraud occurs when a customer buys a product and then calls the bank for a chargeback instead of initiating a formal refund process with the merchant. As per studies, an astounding 80% of chargebacks are wrongfully filed.
Now, you might be wondering, chargebacks–refunds, same thing, right? You are still getting your money back.
That may be true for the customers, but chargebacks can be a nightmare for merchants.
- Backs can charge a heavy fine on undisputed chargebacks.
- Merchants can contest chargebacks, but studies show that banks tend to favour their cardholders.
- If a merchant gets a lot of chargebacks, card processors might not process their payments in the future.
Currently, chargebacks are a $125 billion problem.
What are advantages of crypto payments?
#1 No intermediaries – Hence faster and cheaper
Satoshi Nakamoto created Bitcoin in the aftermath of the 2008 financial collapse when public trust in banks was at an all-time low. Creating a payment system that didn’t depend on an intermediary was the need of the hour. So when Nakamoto created Bitcoin, they used public-key cryptography to cleverly circumvent intermediaries. Here is a quick overview:
- To use bitcoin, you must use a wallet.
- The wallet stores your public address and private key.
- The public address acts like your bank account. Anyone can send you BTC to your public address.
- Your private key is your ATM pin. You can only access your coins with your key.
You are basically your own bank if you have complete control over your public address and private key. You have complete autonomy over your money, and you can send your coins to anyone you want, provided they have a coin wallet. Because of this lack of intermediaries, crypto payments are faster and cheaper than normal cross-border transactions. For example, in October 2020, someone sent $1 billion in BTC and paid only $3 in transaction fees.
#2 No chargebacks
Now, let’s look at the chargebacks.
Chargebacks aren’t possible in crypto payments. Cryptocurrencies are based on DLT technology like blockchain making the transactions immutable and irreversible. Once a transaction is done, it gets recorded in the blockchain ledger and stays there forever.
Powering crypto payments through SmartPay
Crypto payments can be intimidating for newbies. That’s why merchants need to choose a reliable crypto payment service provider. SmartPay, CoinSmart’s proprietary crypto payment service provider, makes it quick and easy to accept crypto.
All you need to do is create an account, invoice your customer, and the customer pays with crypto. Then, your crypto is auto-sold on receipt, and funds are wired to your bank account immediately. Or you also have the option to hold on to your coins.
Here is a quick comparison between SmartPay and other fiat payment providers.
So, why should you adopt SmartPay? Here are its many benefits:
- Accept crypto payments: Let’s start with the most obvious benefit. Accept crypto payments from your customers. Save up to 2.5% compared to credit card payments. Currently, SmartPay accepts the following crypto and fiat currencies – BTC, ETH, USDC, USDT, SOL, DOGE, LTC, CAD, USD, EUR, and AUD.
- Faster payments: Stop waiting for your funds to clear and get cash wired to your bank account instantly.
- 0 chargebacks: Chargebacks are impossible in crypto payments
- Backed by CoinSmart: SmartPay is backed by CoinSmart – a fully compliant crypto trading platform.
Want to know more? Come over to SmartPay’s website.
