The aim of every marketplace ultimately should be to scale into a global brand. However, one of the major challenges in facilitating global transactions is catering to the 180 currencies that currently exist in the world. As cryptocurrency advocates like Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey call for Bitcoin to eventually unite the world and act as the Internet’s reserve currency, what would this enable for the global facilitation of e-commerce? What benefits would it allow marketplaces when trading across borders – if all customers and suppliers were paid in the same currency on an open network? This article will explore the opportunity of cryptocurrencies and what the implementation of them would mean for the e-commerce industry and global trade, including facilitating cross-border trade at speed and without fees along with other benefits.
To begin with, let’s have a look at what cryptocurrencies actually are. Unlike fiat currencies, cryptocurrency is a digital currency which is secured by cryptography – which makes it virtually impossible to counterfeit. Many cryptocurrencies run on decentralized networks which are based on blockchain technology. One of the unique features of cryptocurrencies is that they are theoretically immune to government interference as they are generally not issued by any central authority.
Recently, the use of cryptocurrencies (or crypto for short) has been on the rise as a valid payment method accepted by various businesses. This is largely due to the opportunity offering a range of distinctive advantages that you cannot get when compared with typical transactions and payments conducted in fiat currencies. These include lower transaction fees, faster processing and stronger security to name but a few.
Furthermore, as this article will unpack, crypto transactions are particularly useful for international transfers: meaning they can help facilitate your cross-border global expansion and reach new demographics. Therefore, let’s take a look at some of the main advantages of accepting crypto as a payment method.
One main advantage of crypto is to Improve operational efficiency by drastically reducing the costs associated with payment processing fees. Merchants are typically charged both a gateway fee and a transaction fee, meaning an e-commerce merchant will end up paying between 3-6% or more in fees, particularly when it comes to cross-border transactions.
However, these fees can be massively reduced to as little as 1% when accepting cryptocurrency payments with Utrust, in addition to no chargebacks, direct bank settlements and multi-currency support.
Another huge advantage of accepting cryptocurrency payments is to enable a new segment of customers and access a new revenue stream. One issue with traditional payment methods is that over 1.3million adults in the UK and over 14.1million adults in the US do not have access to a basic bank account.
By enabling cryptocurrency as a payment method on your marketplace, you also enable the millions of consumers locked out of the banking system to shop with you. This is all the more important as physical stores close and shoppers are forced to adapt to the online environment; the millions who do not have access to a bank account or debit card will almost exclusively look for marketplaces and retailers that can offer alternative methods.
Finally, a third benefit of getting involved in this space is to position your brand as a leader in the adoption of disruptive technologies, boosting the way in which consumers view your brand. With the institutional adoption of digital currencies on the horizon and the growing popularity of cryptocurrencies, there is no doubt that we will witness mass adoption of this payment system in the future. Accepting cryptocurrency payments early will allow you to join the first wave of adoption and have a first-mover advantage over other merchants in this space – helping you develop a loyal customer base earlier than your competition.
With all of that said, it is clear that cryptocurrencies can offer a unique opportunity to access new markets and accept payments more efficiently. But how would a retailer go about facilitating this for their business? This brings us back to the innovators in this space, one of which is Utrust. These companies can be partnered with in order to facilitate the acceptance of cryptocurrency payments for your business, allowing you to tap into all of the advantages that come with this technology.
One example of an innovator in this space that you could consider working with is Utrust. Utrust is a seamless integration which gives e-commerce businesses the ability to accept digital currencies – taking full advantage of all the benefits mentioned which sets crypto apart from traditional payment methods.
Utrust facilitates faster growth for many global companies worldwide, powering businesses in over 180 countries across almost every industry. Therefore, you can reach a much wider audience by accepting crypto payments in more than 30 currencies, yet be paid in fiat, all with access to a network boasting lower fees, less fraud risk and faster transactions than more traditional methods.
To continue, one of the main benefits of Utrust is just how easy it is to use. The Utrust ecosystem boasts seamless integration, as it was designed and built for easy onboarding. Their payment widget and B2B solutions allow your business to accept crypto payments immediately. Once that is set up, you have access to the Utrust merchant’s dashboard which has everything you need: view transactions, check order details and manage refunds and settlements with ease all at the click of a button.
With regards to fees, Utrust offers a flat 1% transaction fee, meaning you can increase your profits on each sale by not wasting money on higher fees that you would need to pay when using regular payment channels. Not to mention, you won’t lose any money from customer chargebacks as transactions are immutable and only you can decide on the refund.
Finally, although you can access a much wider and constantly-growing consumer base by accepting crypto payments in Bitcoin, Ethereum and other digital currencies, you avoid market volatility as all purchases are immediately converted into cash. This means that you receive the payments directly in your local currency, avoiding any market volatility that is typically associated with the nature of cryptocurrencies. Overall, Utrust offers a very attractive digital payment platform – allowing your business to easily trade cross-border using a network that is more secure, has lower fees and no volatility.
As this article outlines, there are clearly multiple benefits to businesses and marketplaces of accepting cryptocurrency for payments alongside traditional methods. Is it possible that in the future, traditional payment methods will gradually be replaced completely by the future of cryptocurrency? To recap some of the benefits:
Our research team keeps abreast of the latest trends to ensure we can always deliver excellence to our clients. With the e-commerce industry evolving so rapidly, we are constantly monitoring the space including new trends that arise, in order to ensure that our clients are able to compete on the global marketplace stage.
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