In the last few years, the haze of misconception surrounding crypto currency and blockchain technology has cleared to an extent. The number of crypto investors has shot up considerably and same can be said about the number of companies experimenting with blockchain technology. This is a global trend and some govt entities are also adopting blockchain for operational efficacy. Despite the lack of regulations in the sector, more businesses are accepting crypto currency based payments, gradually.
Need to add crypto currency gateway for your business
Adding crypto payment to the payment options can be beneficial for any entity, as it is. It will help attract more potential customers (especially the geeks and security paranoid lot) and widen the revenue. The anonymity and safety in crypto transactions cannot be equaled by other modes of digital payments, including wallets and debit/credit cards. So, you can consider adding a crypto payment gateway for your business.
However, it is also essential that you zero in on the right crypto payment gateway.
Picking the right crypto currency and bitcoin payment gateway
In recent times, the number of cryptocurrency payment gateways has multiplied. However, not all such gateways offer same features and functionalities. Therefore, the businesses need to compare the top crypto gateways and pick the apt one for their ventures.
Listed below are some of the popular and widely used bitcoin and crypto payment gateways:
- Coinbase- It is one of the widely used and reliable Crypto exchanges and you can also use their payment gateways for your business. Like many other companies, you can start using Coinbase Commerce and this will enable your customers to pay using various types of crypto currencies. It supports many ecommerce platforms and integrating the gateway into your existing checkout process will not be hard. For example, it supports Shopify. Coinbase will offer its service free for $1 million worth transactions and after that you will be charged 1% as merchant fee.
- Coingate- Coingate is one of the first movers in blockchain payment processing segment and the user base is massive. It has been operating since 2014, actually. It is simple for online as well as offline businesses to start using CoinGate and accept crypto currency payments from the buyers. It supports more than 50 altcoins and you can get payments credited in the bank account directly in fiat currencies like USD and EUR.
- Bitpay- Another pioneer in Bitcoin and crypto currency transaction sector, Bitpay is an US based entity. Bitcoin is compatible with online sales, POS and it also integrates with more than 40 e-commerce platforms. If you wish so, you can convert the bitcoins into fiat currencies through it and get these deposited into a preferred bank account-using the service. It lets you deposit money in bank in 38 countries. You may even automate the process of deposit from converted crypto currency payments into banks accounts. However, it is still not available at many places. This can be an issue when you run a business with global customer base. BitPay is especially suited for the SMBs as it offers free cap worth $1,000 on daily transactions and for annual transactions this limit is $10,000. Thereafter, 1% transaction fee gets levied.
- SpicePay- SpicePay is a gateway for crypto currency and using it you can accept popular crypto currencies like ETH, BTC and LTC for your venture-easily. You get a free wallet for hassle free integration with offline or online shop. Based in London, SpicePay has been operating since 2013. One advantage of using this gateway is in the EU regions, merchants will receive their payments in 24 hours instead of 72 hours which happens with credit card processors. It lets you withdraw bitcoin payments through PayPal, which is neat! You can opt for withdrawals in fiat currencies such as EUR, GBP, CAD and USD. The processing fee is only 1%.
- CoinPayments- CoinPayments, hailed as a leader in crypto payment sector has been operating since 2013. It comes with support for over 1400 cryptocoins and integrates easily with shopping cart apps. For example, it supports platforms and apps like magento, woocommerce, shopify. You can also tweak its POS page as per your business needs. Its team of developers will also assist you in integrating the gateway to meet your company needs in the best way. Of course, you get support for conversion of cryptocoins into fiat currencies. It also has mobile apps.
- GoURL- If you have a startup and there is no separate business bank account, can you accent payments in Bitcoin? The answer is yes, as long as you use GoURL! It is compatible with the major bitcoin wallets. The good thing is its WordPress plug-in is capable and the procedure is reliable. However, there are a few downers too. It still lacks support for direct bank transfers which many businesses will find tedious. Besides, it charges 1.5%- 3.5% fee for transactions-which is higher than what most rivals offer.
Summing it up
Apart from these crypto currency gateways, you will find many other options including the likes of Alfacoins, GoCoin and BTC Pay. With time, many more contenders will join this bandwagon. However, you should analyze a few key aspects when choosing any such crypto payment gateway. These include ease of usage, integration with shopping cart and websites, customer support and of course, support for crypto currency variants and automated conversions. Additionally, you will do well by checking website of the company offering this service and checking its reviews online.
