The number of businesses accepting Bitcoin payments has risen over recent years. Adopting Bitcoin into your payment system can make your business competitive, open it up to more customers, and reduce operational costs. For high-risk merchants who the traditional payment processors and banks have turned down, Bitcoin is a more appealing transaction currency with better security guarantees. Platforms such as Immediate Edge can conveniently process payments and even convert funds into your chosen fiat currencies.
Accepting Bitcoin payments in your business can enable you to save money on credit card processing fees. Besides, Bitcoin payments are not subjected to chargeback fees, allowing you to save money. Bitcoin is a decentralized digital currency enabling you to transact with several new and international customers. Using Bitcoin in your business will also help resolve payment disputes since it validates all transactions on an immutable ledger.
Setting Up Your Business for Bitcoin Payments
There are numerous benefits to accepting Bitcoin payments in your business. However, the process of integrating Bitcoin into your business’ payment system may vary slightly based on the online platforms that you are using. Nevertheless, here are the basic steps to accept Bitcoin payments as a business.
Understand the Bitcoin Regulations in your Area
While Bitcoin is a decentralized currency not tied to any government or central authority, some regulations apply, especially regarding taxation. The tax regulations usually vary from one state and country to another. So, you should first engage a legal expert or accountant to understand the Bitcoin regulations that apply to your business. Knowing the applicable rules will enable you to plan how to record and report Bitcoin payments in your accounting systems effectively.
Create a Crypto Wallet
Bitcoin is digital, meaning you can only use the currency online via a crypto wallet. Thus, you must set up a secure crypto wallet to which customers will pay. The wallet has a public address that you will share with clients whenever they want to make payments in Bitcoin. Processing Bitcoin payments through a personal wallet cost nothing, but you may still pay some fees whenever you convert the Bitcoin to other cryptocurrencies or fiat money.
Choose a Reliable Payment Gateway
You can either process Bitcoin payments through your wallet or a payment gateway. A payment gateway is a third-party service provider that receives and processes payments on your behalf. They can also keep the Bitcoin for as long as they wish, offering more flexibility. However, payment gateways charge a small transaction fee of about 1%.
Integrate Bitcoin Payments with Your Business’ Accounting Software
Bitcoin payments are subject to taxation, so it is vital to integrate them with accounting for the rest of your business transactions. Bitcoin’s blockchain technology records all transactions on a digital ledger, but you still need to merge the payments with your current accounting software to make things easier.
Enable Bitcoin Payments on the Checkout Process
Some payment processors, such as BitPay and Coinbase, provide options for integrating crypto payments with HTML code from personal wallets. However, you may also need to download a plug-in or app to enable Bitcoin payments on your e-commerce platform.
Accepting Bitcoin payments in your business might seem simple, but it offers incredible benefits. It would give your customers more payment options during checkout, lower the overall transaction fees and allow unrestricted access to global markets. The above guidelines can help you scale up and start accepting Bitcoin payments in your business.
