It does not matter if you want it, or not, the newest Fin Tech solutions are gradually entering our lives. We are talking IoT (Internet of Things), Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and more. Older (or as some may prefer to call them – traditional) technologies and models need to adjust, or otherwise they would sink in the matter of months. The FinTech innovation curve is impressive, and the companies are currently in the race of presenting some fresh ideas.
And while the technology influences heavily how we understand, use and perceive money, the changes are inevitable. Cryptocurrencies have been around for a decade now, and maybe for some this is incomprehensible, but for future generations they can be something as obvious as the television is for us today. Only recently, the crypto world has become mainstream, and we’re currently seeing something around 2300 different currencies operating worldwide.
The widening range of cryptocurrency services
Coinmap.org published its data in May 2021 where they claimed that there are 22,271 worldwide points accepting crypto. This includes retail shops, cafés, restaurants, as well as ATMs. As the cryptocurrencies are gaining on the popularity, more and more people decide to invest. So as there are more and more crypto-owners and investors, more and more companies are looking at the possibility of adopting the tools to proceeding crypto payments. This could enhance the sales opportunities, avoid currency conversion, and expand the market for the business. Also, the payments will become more transparent, and thus efficient. Should more people learn how to use the method, this would also ease all the payments processes between the clients and service providers.
Mastercard has already announced that they are planning to implement the cryptocurrency support. This came after the results of the survey were presented, which revealed that as much as 40% of customers from 18 countries are planning on including crypto payments into their range of payment methods. All this, as declared by them, in the ‘foreseeable future’.
It gets more interesting when we look at the youth. 77% of young people who took part in the survey have expressed the interest of getting to know about digital assets better, and 75% believes that they would use crypto, if only they understood the nuances of it. This only shows the size of potential group of customers, which the possibility of crypto-payments may attract to the companies.
This idea is heavily supported by different companies, one of them being PayPal, which has already allowed its United States customers to use cryptocurrencies as the forms of payment for merchants all around the globe. Jeff Bezos has also announced that there will be a Bitcoin-payment option for the Purse.io customers.
Is this all for the consumer-oriented businesses only?
No. Some B2B payments companies are also researching and looking for options in this space. Some have even already started to make some moves towards implementing this. Juniper Research suggests that the transborder crypto-payments scope will increase by more than 25 times in just a couple of years, and it will reach $4.4 trillion by 2024.
But this optimism does not mean that everyone approaches the topic with the same amounts of enthusiasm. Some companies that specialize in payments services (even the established ones) are remaining skeptical towards the idea of implementing cryptocurrencies technology into their services. Pieter van der Does, who is the CEO of Ayden, has openly stated that crypto is not included in the agenda of his company. With cryptocurrencies (such as Bitcoin) behaving differently, they perceive it more like an investment, than the method of payment.
While the future of the cryptocurrencies is still to be found out, you should definitely visit Disruption Banking website in order to check out the brilliant piece by Tal Sharon. The author gives a comprehensive analysis of the prospects of the market, so it’s definitely worth reading: https://disruptionbanking.com/2021/07/12/the-payment-revolution-in-the-age-of-crypto/.
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