Is it time for businesses to start accepting Bitcoin Payments?

Bitcoin is dominating the economic news headlines almost daily. Investors and entrepreneurs are showing high interest in venturing with Bitcoin. People used to see Bitcoin primarily as an investment entity. However, recent trends show their entrance in mainstream currency mediums also. Many people across the globe are using Bitcoin to make payments for their regular purchases. This large consumer base has taken the value of the global Bitcoin industry to $600 billion US dollars.

Speculations have been made about the exponential growth of Bitcoin in the future. The shift of Bitcoin crypto payments into mainstream payment modes has inspired several businesses to incorporate a crypto payment gateway. As a result, businesses accept Bitcoin payments for their products and services just like fiat currency. Moreover, there are various other benefits of accepting crypto payments for businesses. So, if you are also a business owner, it's time to ponder accepting crypto payments. But before starting, you should understand all about Bitcoin and crypto payments. Here, we will talk about the benefits of accepting crypto as payments for businesses!

What are Bitcoin payments?

Bitcoin payments are an end-to-end transaction network between two parties. You can also understand the structure of Bitcoin payments as a consensus network. It utilizes complete digitalized currency operations. Bitcoin payment works similarly to regular fiat payments; instead, they incorporate cryptocurrency. The payment mechanism for Bitcoin is similar to making transactions by using your regular bank account.

Crypto or Bitcoin payments have no central authority which manages them. Any business that accepts Bitcoin payment needs to establish a cryptocurrency gateway. The gateway enables the users to execute crypto payments and transactions while purchasing a product or service. With these gateways, customers don't need to do the back-end exchanging of the digital currency in fiat currency. Customers can pay using their regular crypto wallets through these gateways.

Why should businesses accept crypto payments?

Now, when you know what crypto payments are, let's head over to know the benefits of crypto payments for businesses. So here is the list of advantages that crypto payments offer for small and large enterprises.

Minimal transaction fee

Regular fiat payments through credit cards or other modes imply heavy transaction charges on businesses. For example, each credit card payment charge can go up to 25% of the total payment amount. Credit card payments made from international gateways even charge higher. This causes extra stress on the pockets of small businesses. This also forces them to limit credit card payments to their POS systems. However, Bitcoin crypto payments don't have such high transaction charges. It is because crypto payments are decentralized in their structure. This reduces the cost of transaction fees, even for international payments by Bitcoin.

Streamlined transactions in less time

It is one of the essential benefits of accepting Bitcoin for businesses dealing internationally. International fiat payments have a prolonged processing period. The time-consuming currency exchange processes reduce the productivity of businesses and customer satisfaction. But with crypto payments, there is no such processing time. Bitcoin payments don't need to go through any exchange processes. This helps in faster transactions and also saves resources for businesses.

Zero Chargebacks

Suppose a customer has purchased from a small business. But later, he wants to return the product and demands a refund. Then, the respective business will need to pay back the payment amount made by the customer, and there will be on sale. However, the business still needs to pay the high transaction fees for the credit card payment made by the customer on their account. This will create losses for the business. However, with crypto payments, there are no such chargebacks. Therefore, businesses can make refunds without paying such high charges.

Improves your brand image

We live in the fast-paced world of technology. More and more people are showing interest in crypto payments. So, the businesses that accept Bitcoin can connect with a more extensive potential customer base. An additional payment mode will also increase customer convenience, resulting in better customer satisfaction.

What companies accept Bitcoin for payment?

To match the growing speed of financial development, several top-tier companies have started accepting Bitcoin.

Microsoft

You can use crypto payments for upgrading your Microsoft account. Also, the business offers the use of Bitcoin in various other services. For example, you can make payments by using Bitcoin for Xbox Live, games, apps, etc.

Wikipedia

One of the best open encyclopedias, Wikipedia, also uses crypto payments. It takes donations in crypto payments. It also accepts Bitcoin transactions for its other business segment, Wikimedia.

Paypal

It provides a platform for buying and selling cryptocurrency as an investment entity. It also offers a crypto payment option for merchant accounts.

Starbucks

The company doesn't offer a direct crypto payment service. But you can add money to your account through the company's main app.

AT&T

It is the first smartphone provider company that accepts crypto payments. In addition, it is one of the most influential stores that accept Bitcoin.

Amazon

The company doesn't offer a direct crypto payment facility. However, users can make crypto payments through a third-party crypto payment gateway.

I am a business owner/operator and want to accept Bitcoin. How do I get started?

Businesses can start using crypto payments by establishing crypto payment gateways on their website. Here are two ways for businesses to begin accepting payments in cryptocurrency;

Crypto wallet establishment

Businesses willing to start accepting crypto payments need first to set up their crypto wallets. It works similar to standard bank accounts that allow deposits and fiat currency withdrawal. But, make sure that the wallet works with Bitcoin cryptocurrency.

Add a crypto payment option on the website.

Now add the link of your crypto wallet to your website. You can add payment buttons or invoices on the websites. It will allow users to access the crypto payment gateway quickly. Or you can also add different plug-ins to begin your crypto payment facility.

Conclusion

Stores that accept Bitcoin allow businesses to interact with international customers. It makes the payment process more convenient for the customers. Crypto payments are becoming popular even among the masses, not just investors and entrepreneurs. So it provides a massive opportunity for the businesses to tap into new target customer bases, especially for small businesses. Bigshot companies like Starbucks and Amazon are also heading towards accepting crypto payments.