There have been a number of attempts to bring cryptocurrency to the masses. Whether it is a user-friendly crypto wallet, blockchain smartphones, or a credit card-based solution, startups have been trying to solve this problem almost as long as Bitcoin has existed.
Adding its idea to the mix, ForumPay – a point-of-sale (POS) solutions provider – has unveiled a payment platform that enables consumers to pay in crypto and merchants to receive payments in either crypto or fiat.
The platform also allows customers to use any e-wallet or token when making payments, without any need for physical contact between merchant and customer.
This is important for the mainstream adoption of cryptocurrencies.
As the number of people who own cryptocurrency rises globally, so too does the demand to pay for goods and services with digital coins. Between Q3 of 2016 and Q1 of 2020, blockchain wallet adoption rose over 425 percent, according to Statista, and crypto-paying consumers in the marketplace are spending in excess of €3.4 trillion annually, according to an EU report on virtual currency and monetary policy.
But some merchants, many of whom are unsure about cryptocurrency and blockchain’s future, have not been as fast to match levels of customer demand. That’s the problem ForumPay is hoping to solve.
Even better, ForumPay can be integrated into any POS system, website, smartphone, or tablet.
“Merchants can easily sign up and establish a ForumPay account on our website to begin accepting cryptocurrency payments right away,” CEO and Co-Founder at ForumPay, Josh Tate, told me. “Thereafter, a merchant can choose from several payment options to suit their particular business needs be it online or brick and mortar. We currently offer everything from quick start options by taking payments using the merchants online dashboard, through a simple but comprehensive full API integration.”
If cryptocurrency payment options are going to become adopted by a wide range of merchants, and not just those that are tech-savvy, ease of adoption and integration will be key.
“Other options for merchants include widget and pay buttons, email payment requests, a dedicated payments application, and physical POS terminals with ForumPay already built-in,” Tate said. “Each is available at the merchant’s fingertips within their ForumPay dashboard and features our instant fiat conversion for settlement in multiple fiat currencies.”
So how does it work when a customer wants to pay using cryptocurrency? Well, it works remarkably similar to the way that WeChat processes over one billion transactions a day – via QR codes.
“Using any of the integration options, the merchant simply rings up the transaction as they would normally at the register or through their online store, and the system creates a QR code for the customer to scan,” Tate said. “The customer can scan using any of their favorite wallets. The transaction is instant, secure, and contactless with no risk of chargebacks or identity theft.”
Of course, not all cryptocurrencies are born equal, and token fans generally tend to gravitate towards a few of the most popular digital coins. With that in mind, what cryptocurrencies are supported by ForumPay right now, and what’s to come?
“Our system allows for consumers with virtually any wallet to pay using Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Litecoin (LTC), Dash (DASH), Bitcoin Cash (BCH) and Ripple (XRP),” Tate said. “We opted to start with this lineup of the most popular cryptocurrencies as it represents approximately 90 percent of the market by capitalization. Our advanced technology allows us to easily integrate any reputable cryptocurrency where such integration is commercially justified.”
ForumPay seems to tick all the boxes needed to help bring cryptocurrency payments to merchants without having to go through a lot of pain or understand the sometimes overly complex blockchain industry.
ForumPay has initially launched in European markets and is expanding its network into many other parts of the globe in the coming months.
