An ever-increasing number of companies around the world are using Bitcoin (and other cryptocurrencies) for operational and transactional purposes. While countries and governments may be wary of BTC, major organizations embrace it, representing a big win for cryptocurrencies. Even though not a lot of places accept Bitcoin directly, cryptocurrency adoption as a payment method is increasing year after year. We have a long way to go until enterprises will accept BTC directly and not through payment processors. Yet, big brands like Microsoft have taken a step in the right direction, so there’s a strong possibility of success.
Accepting Bitcoin as a business owner can help you remain competitive, get new customers, and lower your payment processing fees. The use of cryptocurrency for conducting business presents both opportunities and challenges, so have a clear understanding of what you’re doing. Therefore, if you intend to accept BTC as a viable form of payment, think ahead, prepare, and engage in a thoughtful manner.
There Are Several Reasons Why You Might Want to Accept Bitcoin Payments
You Can Avoid Costly and Inconvenient Transaction Fees
Whenever customers buy a good or a service, there are several costs the deal includes, which affect how much net return you accrue. The costs can be high or low, depending on the volume of the transaction. An intermediary bank acts on behalf of another bank sending money to streamline the financial transaction. Needless to say, the intermediary is an agent and will charge a fee. Put simply, you pay a fee to authorize and complete card transactions. if you charge the fee to your customers, you risk losing them, so you might want to think about accepting cryptocurrency payments.
Bitcoin’s network streamlines the process by eliminating intermediaries and replaces the central system with a decentralized ledger of chained records. When a purchase is made with BTC, your PC consults the blockchain ledger to see if the buyer has enough money. If there’s distributed consensus among the computers in the network, a new data entry is added to the chain, showing the transfer. You can take a hands-on approach to enable payments, such as leveraging a third-party vendor to maintain custody of the tokens on the blockchain and offer wallet management services. You can convert cryptocurrency into fiat currency, but see what is the price of Bitcoin beforehand.
You Can Keep Fraudsters Out and Loyal Customers Coming Back
Card chargeback is meant to protect customers against fraud. The payment transaction is reversed by the issuing bank or payment processor following a dispute. At times, the system is abused by bad actors. A chargeback filed against a purchase that was carried out by the cardholder is considered fraud. Chargebacks are dangerous for your business because you lose money from the transactions, not to mention that you pay chargeback fees. If your chargeback rate increases, you may be forced to enter an inconvenient mitigation program. On the blockchain, there’s no way for chargebacks to be carried out because Bitcoin transactions are designed to be irreversible, and there’s no control over them.
You Can Expand and Open Your Doors to International Buyers
International expansion brings about an entirely new market of people that your business can serve. Unfortunately, cross-border payments are exasperating due to the currency conversion involved. The funds aren’t wired until they’ve been converted to the local currency. Bitcoin allows you to overcome delays and additional costs. Cryptocurrency transfers are decentralized, meaning that you’re not required to pay the fees charged by an intermediary. Money can be transferred directly, and the amount of time it takes for the payment to be processed varies from a few seconds to a couple of days. Customers can send funds while keeping their account details private.
Attention must be paid to the fact that payment gateways aren’t necessarily required. It’s perfectly fine to use your personal wallet to accept BTC payments. In case you didn’t already know, private keys are essential to accessing and using your funds, so store them safely. If you want to set up a crypto wallet for your company, take into consideration several aspects, including the type of business you have, how much money you’re dealing with, and what experience you have with cryptocurrency. If you’re just starting out with cryptocurrency, it’s probably a good idea to get a custodial wallet like Binance.
What To Know Before Accepting Bitcoin Payments in Your Business
Bitcoin is still the token people refer to when they’re talking about cryptocurrency. If you’re planning to accept BTC payments, it’s strongly recommended to talk to your accountant or bookkeeper to understand the tax implications. The fair market value of the cryptocurrency must be taken into account when computing gross income. If you rely on online accounting software, such as QuickBooks, you must be certain your payment processor for digital currencies integrates with it. You’ll want to make sure cryptocurrency transactions are recorded in the same place where you account for the rest of your business transactions.
Even if Bitcoin transactions eliminate threats like chargebacks, they’re vulnerable to cyber-attacks. Safe payment gateways make tremendous efforts to prevent malicious actors from intercepting payment data while it’s being transferred from one place to the other. Moreover, in the event of a breach, the company supports the losses. Protections don’t apply if your personal wallet is hacked. Turn on two-factor authentication for withdrawals, transfer the coins to an external address, and back up your seed words properly. Most importantly, don’t use public Wi-Fi, even if you’re on the go. Others nearby can intercept your traffic.
All in all, a good indicator of the progress toward mainstream cryptocurrency adoption is the business adoption curve. Bitcoin is breaking through and finding support at levels where there used to be resistance. In other words, cryptocurrency is becoming increasingly popular in the corporate world, reliability being arguably its most alluring trait. You can accept BTC payments manually, but the process is slightly complicated, so it would be best to have customers send the cryptocurrency to your exchange account.