Being the main author of TheBlogIsMine news portal in the past, Anastasia has significant experience in observing such fields as tech and business. Now she wants to explore a new area – FinTech. Passionate researcher on technology topics eager to know about what's shaping the future – and how to respond.
A U.S. based provider of merchant services, Aliant Payment Systems, announced today that it’s joined forces with BitPay, a world’s lead bitcoin payments provider, to make it possible for merchants to accept payments in bitcoins and to spread the global reach of this currency.
Aliant CEO Eric Brown said: “Aliant is looking to the future of blockchain, bitcoin and cryptocurrency, and we’re excited to bring a bitcoin solution to our clients. We look forward to showing merchants what bitcoin can do for online payments and what BitPay is doing for businesses transferring value globally.”
Bitcoin CEO Stephen Pair commented: “Merchants accepting high-value payments online need a secure, fraud-free way to receive value, and we believe bitcoin provides that way. We are proud to be working with a forward-looking company like Aliant to bring this payment option to more businesses.”
A few months ago Aliant partnered with Merchant e-Solutions to extend its reach and attract accounts with significant annual processing volumes, such as e-commerce, travel, and B2B firms. The companies which belong to the mentioned domains are more likely to get hit by credit card fraud and that’s why they tend to consider switching to cryptocurrency payments, as doing so reduces their risk.
BitPay, in its turn also tries to go beyond by adding new features to its wallet and teaming up with such giants as Amazon and Worldcore. Yesterday the company unveiled a new beta version of its Copay Wallet which now allows to spend and store bitcoin cash. The release is BitPay’s answer to the growing number of requests to support Bitcoin Cash. The Copay wallet is now promised to give its users “the freedom to choose—or to use both BCH and BTC.”
Moreover, last month BitPay added Coinbase and Glidera integration allowing users to fill up their wallet balances directly from in-app exchange connections. The company has also previously spoke about its plans to make BitPay Visa Prepaid Debit Card available for users in more than 131 new countries around the world. The list of countries includes the United States, major bitcoin-using countries such as the UK, Germany, China, Japan, Argentina, and Brazil, and 125 other nations.
The BitPay card addresses the major problem for early bitcoin adopters: conversion of the cryptocurrency received, earned, or saved into a balance spendable with everyday Visa-accepting merchants.
Meanwhile, cryptocurrency assets are gaining popularity. Earlier this month Baroness Michelle Mone of Mayfair OBE and Doug Barrowman announced the world’s first Bitcoin-priced development in Dubai becoming property pioneers. Their first joint project is a $330 million development of two apartment towers in the heart of Dubai with the Plaza – three floors dedicated to retail which will include boutiques, cafes, restaurants and a supermarket. The residents will also have the opportunity to visit a sporting gym and a swimming pool that will also be constructed in the complex.
The innovatory character of the venture lies in the fact that all the apartments will be offered exclusively in bitcoin with all the payments being processed by Bitpay, leading bitcoin payments platform, which already provides its services to Microsoft and Richard Branson’s space venture Virgin Galactic.