As a business owner, part of your responsibility is to ensure that you offer different forms of payment for clients and customers. This includes newer forms of payment as well, such as accepting cryptocurrency.
Cryptocurrency has been making a splash in recent years as the future of payments. Major companies like Microsoft now accept it as a form of payment, two New York City schools now accept it as tuition payment and Bitcoin alone has risen nearly 900% in two years.
Many small businesses – like coffee shops and restaurants – have also begun accepting cryprocurrency as a form of valid payment. This points to the fact that cryptocurrency may be here to stay. Here are x advantages to accepting cryptocurrency in your business.
Lower transaction fees.
It’s no secret that small businesses are getting creamed by processing fees, so accepting cryptocurrency can help mititgate the sting. By general rule, cryptocurrency has lower per transaction fees than accepting credit cards and debit cards.
With credit and debit, you’re looking at at least 3 percent transaction fees plus multiple hidden feees. Meanwhile, with cryptocurrency like Bitcoin, it is said that merchants can reduce their fees to less than one percent.
Fraud protection.
Part of the appeal of accepting cryptocurrency in your business is fraud protection. With cryptocurrency, clients and customers don’t need to give you personal financial information.
This is in the same way PayPal acts as the third party between consumer and merchant. The only difference is the third party would be sending and receiving cryptocurrency like Bitcoin.
In a time when criminals are getting better at hacking small businesses to get customer financials, this added layer of security can give everyone peace of mind.
You get the money faster.
When accepting credit and debit card payments, business owners may not see that money for a while. Because of all the parties involved, and because they all have different rules, it could be anywhere from a couple of days to an entire week before they see the money hit their bank account. This can be incredibly frustrating when you need cash flow, have bills to pay and need to make payroll.
The good news is this usually isn’t the case with cryptocurrency. This means business owners can have faster access to cash so they can keep their business running.
Cryptocurrency eases foreign payments.
Many businesses are weary of going global because currency exchange and foreign transaction fees are an accounting nightmare. They can also be very expensive. While some intermediaries like PayPal have tried to alleviate this, you’re still looking at a 3.9% fee to accept foreign payments.
Again, cryptocurrency comes to the rescue. Because cryptocurrency like Bitcoin is global, it removes this headache from the equation. This makes it easier for merchants to expand beyond their own borders without having to worry about the costly consequences. There’s no comparison between $0 and a 3.9% fee.
Final Thoughts
Because cryptocurrencies are becoming more commonplace, small businesses may want to consider accepting cryptocurrency as a form of payment. Not only will your customers likely be more inclined to use it now, but there are also some advantages for you as a business owner.
