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Blog Menu. Business Know-How Powered by. By Allen Taylor August 11, Pros of Bitcoin Payments for Small Businesses There are some small businesses where it would not make sense to accept Bitcoin, however, the following benefits may be worth considering.
Cross-border payments are slow — Businesses that accept payments internationally have few options. Most of them are slow. Bank payments can take days. Checks are inefficient. And most online payment systems such as PayPal are not accepted in every country. Bitcoin, however, is a peer-to-peer payment system that allows one party to send payment to another with no third-party facilitator. Payments are made within minutes. All you need is a cryptocurrency wallet. No chargebacks — Small business merchants are always in danger of credit card chargebacks.
That is not the case with Bitcoin. Since it is peer-to-peer, no third party can return the payment to the customer. Lower transaction fees — Other payment methods have huge transaction fees.
Many payment processors have setup fees and include a flat fee per transaction in addition to a percentage of the transaction. Credit card company Visa confirmed at the end of March that it was piloting a scheme with platform Crypto.
So far, PayPal is tight-lipped about whether it intends to expand the service to other countries. Latvian airline airBaltic became the first aviation company in the world to accept Bitcoin as payment for fares back in According to the company, it has processed more than 1, Bitcoin transactions since it launched the payment option seven years ago. Renowned auction house Sotheby's first began accepting cryptocurrency as payment in late June and has since firmly embraced both cryptos and NFTs.
It became the most valuable item ever bought with cryptocurrency at an auction. Where lots are listed as "cryptocurrency payments," the auction house will accept both Bitcoin and Ether as payment. There are certain restrictions, however, as payments will only be accepted through certain approved exchange wallets, including Coinbase. As of , there are now over 2, vending machines in Australia and New Zealand which are geared to accept cryptos to pay for drinks. Following in the wake of airBaltic, LOT Polish Airlines announced in that it would also accept Bitcoin as a payment method for flights.
Despite the six years that have passed since its decision, LOT remains one of the only European airlines to allow cryptocurrency as a payment option. Travel giant Expedia is one of the most prominent travel agencies to accept Bitcoin through its partnership with crypto-friendly travel booking platform Travala. Lush was one of the first global companies to adapt to the use of cryptocurrencies, fully embracing them in when the handmade cosmetics company started to allow Bitcoin payments for orders on its website through a partnership with Bitpay.
Cryptocurrencies also offer some price stability in countries where currencies are unstable. But while countries like El Salvador have embraced cryptocurrencies, others have banned them. And it's currently a gray area in countries like Russia and Pakistan , where it isn't banned but it isn't accepted as payment, either. Unfortunately, cryptocurrencies can be volatile , too. And that's one of the biggest disadvantages of using a digital tender. Your bitcoin and Ether can pay for an airline ticket one day, but the next day they might only buy you a restaurant meal.
Also, there are virtually no consumer protections when you pay with a cryptocurrency. Unlike credit cards, which allow you to dispute certain charges under the Fair Credit Billing Act , you have no such rights when you pay with cryptocurrencies. The Federal Trade Commission received so many complaints from consumers that it issued a warning a few years ago about paying with bitcoin.
Oh, and that part about booking with cryptocurrency being easy — it's not true for everyone. For some bookings, the user experience "can be highly technical and requires a good deal of confidence," says Pedro Renaud Anderson, chief operating officer of Winding Tree, a blockchain company that specializes in travel.
You have to weigh the pros and cons of booking a trip with Bitcoin before opening your digital wallet. More people are doing it now than ever before. But the best reason to pay for your next flight, hotel or tour with cryptocurrency is that if enough people do it, it could upend a badly broken system. Imagine a world free of credit cards, where you have to pay ridiculous fees to access your own money, and where we're no longer slaves to a loyalty program.
Digital currencies promise to end a system that has forced half of America deeper into debt while enriching a select few who learned to game the points and miles programs.
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