Although Bitcoin isn't a widely accepted form of currency yet, many of the 'Net's retailers have already embraced it.
While there are reasons to be hesitant regarding the payment option, Bitcoin also offers many benefits to merchants. For starters, Bitcoin is a worldwide currency with processing fees that are generally lower than credit card fees. Moreover, Bitcoin can be more secure for consumers than typical forms of payments, as consumers aren't required to disclose personal information when they make payments with the digital currency.
For these reasons, Bitcoin is becoming a more common payment option on checkout pages across the Web, including on the checkout pages of these 7 merchants:
Dell jumped on the Bitcoin bandwagon this summer, when the technology retailer announced that it was adding the digital currency as a payment option on its website.
Ecommerce site DinoDirect offers numerous payment options, including credit and debit cards, PayPal, wire transfer, giftcards and Bitcoin.
Popular travel site Expedia accepts Bitcoin payments in addition to PayPal, debit and credit cards.
Ecommerce site Fancy.com accepts credit and debit card payments, as well as Google Wallet and Bitcoin payments.
Overstock.com accepts a wide variety of payments, including debit and credit cards, PayPal, Visa Checkout and Bitcoin.
Ecommerce retailer Reeds Jewelers supports a wide variety of credit and debit card options, as well as gift cards, PayPal and Bitcoin.
Snowboard retailer Zoo York accepts Bitcoin payments in addition to PayPal, credit and debit cards.
Fortunately, there are many solutions available for merchants who haven't yet embraced Bitcoin. For help getting started, check out the three solutions featured below:
Coinbase is among the most popular Bitcoin processing solutions available, with the company's clients including big names like Expedia and Overstock.com. Plus, merchants aren't charged transaction fees for the first $1,000,000 in transactions. It is also important to note that Shopify merchants can leverage Coinbase to accept Bitcoin, as the ecommerce platform unveiled a Coinbase integration in July.
With BitPay, merchants can accept Bitcoin payments across the globe with no transaction fees. The solution enables merchants to add a Bitcoin call-to-action button to their checkout, and then BitPay handles the rest of the checkout process. When the checkout is complete, merchants receive an order confirmation email and customers are redirected to the merchant's website.
GoCoin enables merchants to accept Bitcoin as well as Litecoin and Dogecoin. The platform immediately identifies and converts the exchange rate of Bitcoin to the merchant's currency of choice and then transfers that amount into the merchant's bank account. It is worth noting, however, that GoCoin charges a 1 percent processing fee.