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EditorsJan 30, 2014
Will Bitcoin take off with jewelers?
Though I’m still working to familiarize myself with what it is and how it works, I have noticed that Bitcoin seems to be in the news a lot more recently.
In case you haven’t had the chance to read up on it, Bitcoin is a decentralized digital currency, “digital coins that you can send over the Internet,” as the company describes it. They’re transferred from person to person over the web without going through a third party like a bank.
There are a few ways to get bitcoins, including accepting them as a payment for goods and services or by buying them from a friend or someone near you. You can also buy them directly from an exchange with your bank account, among other ways.
The value of a Bitcoin fluctuates with the market, but as of publishing time Thursday morning, 1 Bitcoin (BTC) was worth about $824.
While it was introduced in 2009, it’s been gaining a lot more steam in the past year or so, especially as more media outlets have been giving it coverage and large retailers such as Overstock.com began accepting it.
But Bitcoin really jumped onto our radar this month when Verichannel announced that it was partnering with Coinapult, a Bitcoin payment processor, to bring Bitcoin services to jewelers.
Under the partnership, Verichannel will offer retailers and e-tailers the ability to accept Bitcoin as they would Visa or PayPal, with the digital currency being converted into dollars automatically and deposited directly into their bank accounts without ever having to deal directly with the bitcoins.
But unlike Visa or PayPal, Bitcoin payments are not reversible.
Verichannel will offer jewelers in the United States who use the service a negotiated fixed fee of $3 per transaction.
“One of the biggest problems facing retail stores is the risk of credit card reversals,” Verichannel CEO Jacques Voorhees explained in a statement when the partnership was announced. “The ‘bias’ of the card processors in favor of the consumer, while understandable, also enables too much fraud. Vendors are at risk on almost every transaction. Furthermore, with today’s ultra-thin margins, the percentage-based credit card processing fee doesn’t help.”
I reached out to Verichannel to ask them, even though it’s still the early days, what the reaction has been, and the company said that they’ve had a positive response so far.
In an email statement, Voorhees said, “In the last week I've spoken to several retailers, all of whom are ready to begin accepting Bitcoin payment processing. The reaction seems to be the same: ‘Why would I not do this?
What's the downside?’ And of course there isn't one that we can see, since the retailer receives payment in dollars.”
He noted that one retailer to whom he’d been talking had previously only been willing to sell after receipt of bank-wire and another won’t sell loose diamonds at all online, both because of credit card fraud fears, with both problems eliminated through using Bitcoin, he said.
He added, “My initial sense is that this whole issue of credit card transaction fees, and the risk of credit card reversals, is even more serious than we realized. It’s actually been stopping companies from doing certain types of business, like diamond e-tailing … Bitcoin has the potential to free the industry from this credit-card albatross. New profit opportunities are going to emerge because of this technology.”
Now that Bitcoin is available to jewelers, the question is, how many jewelers will opt to use Bitcoin? How popular it will become?
If it works similar to a bank card or PayPal and there’s no fear of a charge reversal, would it be worth it to make the switch?
I’m curious to know your thoughts, jewelers. Have you already opted in to Bitcoin? Will you be giving it a chance in or not?
He noted that one retailer to whom he’d been talking had previously only been willing to sell after receipt of bank-wire and another won’t sell loose diamonds at all online, both because of credit card fraud fears, with both problems eliminated through using Bitcoin, he said.
He added, “My initial sense is that this whole issue of credit card transaction fees, and the risk of credit card reversals, is even more serious than we realized. It’s actually been stopping companies from doing certain types of business, like diamond e-tailing … Bitcoin has the potential to free the industry from this credit-card albatross. New profit opportunities are going to emerge because of this technology.”
Now that Bitcoin is available to jewelers, the question is, how many jewelers will opt to use Bitcoin? How popular it will become?
If it works similar to a bank card or PayPal and there’s no fear of a charge reversal, would it be worth it to make the switch?
I’m curious to know your thoughts, jewelers. Have you already opted in to Bitcoin? Will you be giving it a chance in or not?
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