The advent of cryptocurrencies has heralded a new era of transactions. According to this report on Zippia, just over 15,000 businesses worldwide accept crypto as payment. Out of these, 2300 businesses are located in the United States of America. Thanks to crypto, businesses have achieved greater efficiency, offered customers more payment options, and gained a leg up over their competition. Crypto payments can also be a viable alternative for newer, less established businesses that traditionally struggle to find payment processors.
In this article, we shall take a closer look at the advantages of accepting crypto payments as a business and how it can be facilitated through Coinsmart’s latest offering, SmartPay, a user-friendly payment gateway supporting multiple cryptocurrencies.
Current Challenges Faced By Businesses
Businesses face several challenges when accepting online payments. The problem becomes magnified when it comes to managing cash flow, which is critical in maintaining the business’s health. Any impediment to this could lead to several problems both on the business and customer side and create a squeeze on the business’s cash flow. Let’s look at some of the major problems businesses face when accepting online payments.
The Chargeback Headache
One of the biggest challenges faced by businesses when it comes to accepting online payments is chargebacks. Chargebacks occur when businesses have to reserve a transaction back to the customer in the event of a dispute. Excess chargebacks can have a significant impact on the financial health of a business and impact the image of the brand.
Fraud
Online payments bring a high degree of convenience. However, there are several concerns when it comes to security. While several technological advancements have mitigated the risk of fraud to a certain degree, malicious entities and criminals are continuously developing new types of fraud to break down current security practices and measures.
High Processing Costs
In today’s day and age, it is imperative for businesses to accept payments online. However, businesses end up paying a significant amount in processing fees, which typically range between ~3% and 5% based on the payment processor being used and the client model employed. If a business pays a significant portion of its revenue to meet processing costs, it is better off looking at alternatives such as accepting crypto payments.
What Are The Benefits Of Accepting Crypto Payments As A Business?
There are several benefits of accepting crypto payments as a business. Most of these primarily revolves around instant settlements, lower transaction fees, reduction of fraud and chargebacks, and access to a new user base that prefers making payments in crypto.
Low Transaction Fees
One of the most significant advantages of accepting crypto payments as a business is low transaction fees. A business accepting credit or debit card payments pays between 3% – 5% as transaction fees. This means if a transaction is worth $1000, businesses give $30 – $50 to the payment processor. Integrating crypto payments can bring greater efficiency by eliminating unnecessary costs typically associated with traditional payment systems. This allows businesses to reduce their operational costs and give customers the best value for their money.
Borderless Transactions
Cryptocurrency payments are global, which means anyone can send and receive transactions anywhere in the world. No matter where customers are located, they can make instant payments using crypto if they have internet access. With a seamless cross-border payment solution at their disposal, businesses can significantly widen their customer base and increase their revenue and profitability.
No More Fraudulent Chargebacks
Chargebacks are one of the biggest headaches faced by businesses. They are typically executed by centralized institutions that have the authority to reverse transactions in the event of a dispute. While chargebacks are justified in some cases, they are often abused. Malicious customers may request refunds after receiving goods or services, leading to considerable costs and losses. Cryptocurrency transactions are immutable, helping remove the risk of malicious chargebacks.
Instant Settlement
Accepting cryptocurrency payments removes third parties from transactions, making funds available in minutes. For small businesses, instant settlement can be a crucial advantage in the long run.
Access To A New Customer Base
Accepting payments in crypto also allows businesses to broaden their user base and access a new customer base that is more comfortable and prefers making payments using crypto. According to the Global Cryptocurrency Ownership Data, there are over 420 million crypto users worldwide, of which nearly 55 million are based in North America.
Better Customer Experience
Integrating cryptocurrency payments can help businesses give their customers a far superior customer experience, helping them connect directly with businesses. Integrating crypto payments also gives customers greater flexibility in choosing a payment mode that suits them best. This means businesses don’t risk losing customers due to limited payment options.
Accepting Crypto Payments As A Business Using SmartPay
SmartPay is Coinsmart’s latest offering, designed to help businesses accept crypto payments and instantly convert them into fiat currency at a guaranteed, locked-in exchange rate. This means businesses don’t have to be worried about exposure to volatility while being able to access fast settlements at significantly lower fees. SmartPay gives businesses an efficient and cost-effective way to collect payments from customers, issue invoices, and pay suppliers. Additionally, businesses can seamlessly process pay-ins and pay-outs without the risk of chargebacks and gain access to entirely new markets and customers.
SmartPay is extremely easy to use, and all businesses have to do to get started is simply create an account on the platform. It can also be integrated into e-commerce websites via APIs, helping businesses facilitate seamless online payments.
What Cryptocurrency Options Are Available On SmartPay?
Using SmartPay, users can pay for services using the following cryptocurrencies:
Advantages Of Using SmartPay
SmartPay offers businesses several advantages. Let’s look at some of them.
Guaranteed Exchange Rate
SmartPay insulates businesses from volatility by giving them a guaranteed exchange rate.
Instant Access
With SmartPay, businesses no longer have to wait for funds to be cleared. Funds are wired to the registered bank account instantly.
No More Chargebacks Or Risk Of Fraud
SmartPay helps secure funds by eliminating any risk from chargebacks or fraud.
Seamless Crypto payments
Last but not least, SmartPay allows businesses to accept crypto payments seamlessly. It eliminates intermediaries from transactions, allowing businesses to save money otherwise spent on transaction fees paid to traditional payment providers.
In Closing
Crypto payments are changing the world as we know it, with more people adopting it as a payment method. With such a tectonic shift in payment preferences, it is imperative that businesses keep up. SmartPay makes accepting crypto payments as a business seamless, allowing them to integrate crypto payment support on their websites and give customers a seamless, efficient, and highly secure payment method. Furthermore, the platform makes it easy for businesses to manage transactions and give them real-time analytics.
If you want to know more about SmartPay or start using the platform to streamline your business, you can visit SmartPay’s official website.