If I were to tell you that Bitcoin has been around for almost a decade what would you say? I bet that your responses would be split pretty much evenly among two camps. One camp of you would insist that bitcoin is still brand new and seems like a fad. The other would say that surely bitcoin had been around for much longer than that; it’s hard to remember a time when it wasn’t a thing. The truth? Bitcoin was invented in 2009. That’s when the first Bitcoin mining client was released and the first block of coins (50) was mined.
Today Bitcoin is everywhere. In spite of being a virtual currency that people are still trying to figure out (and regulate), you can use it to pay for goods and services in most industries. Even large conglomerates accept it: Microsoft, the Dish Network, Whole Foods, Subway, and Overstock.com are just a few of the large companies that accept bitcoin payments.
It begs the question: should you be using bitcoin and accepting it for your business?
The experts at Genesis Mining, a company that offers bitcoin mining services, say yes. And they’re right.
Reach more customers
It’s Business 101: the more currencies you accept as payment, the more money your company stands to earn. You wouldn’t refuse American dollars or Euros, would you? Not if you were hoping to take your company global or were trying to operate mostly digitally! In that respect, Bitcoin is no different than any other form of currency. Why ostracise potential buyers if you don’t have to?
Making accepting payments simpler
One of the biggest drawbacks to doing business internationally is the hefty fee that most merchants have to pay to process international currency payments. Bitcoin cuts out all of those fees. Because it is virtual, it doesn’t have a country of origin or national bank backing it. This means you don’t have to wait for payments to clear a foreign bank or pay the taxes/costs associated with accepting that payment in the first place.
Security is key
These days, when not even the credit bureaus are able to keep personal information safe, consumers are more worried than they have ever been about protecting themselves against fraud, data breaches, etc. Allowing customers to pay with Bitcoin allows them to buy your products or services without having to worry about whether or not their banking information will be vulnerable. They simply pay through whatever bitcoin wallet service they’re using. Easy peasy.
Wave goodbye to chargebacks
We’ve all been there. A customer buys something and pays with a credit card. Then they ask for a refund. Because of the fine print contained within your contracts with the major credit card processors, you have to issue that refund. Even if the customer loves the product there is risk. If for example, it takes a couple of days for the credit card company to process the payment, there are often purchases made for goods when there are no funds to back up those purchases. This means that the amount you charged the customer gets sent back to the credit card account (even if the buyer hasn’t returned their product to you). With Bitcoin, all sales are final. Period. There are no chargebacks to worry about which means your sales are more secure than they are with traditional merchants.
Bitcoin, like social media, is not a fad. It is here to stay and it is in your best interest to find a way to accept it as payment. You’re losing business if you don’t.
