8th October, 2021
Travel companies are evaluating factors associated with crypto acceptance for transactions. Why to go for it as a merchant – because of the cost advantage? Chargeback management? New customers or order value? What’s the UX and conversion like?
According to a poll conducted during Ai’s webinar today, lower payment costs (69%), being able to attract new customers (66%) and eliminating fraud chargebacks (62%) emerged as the main factors for accepting crypto as when a merchant intends to (more than one option to choose from).
“We have seen a rise in demand for crypto (acceptance) across various sectors and mainstream brands, not just travel,” said BitPay‘s William Zielke, who added that when merchants opt for crypto acceptance, they don’t “touch the crypto” and associated risks are ruled out. Other highlights include no price risk, no chargebacks, next day ACH and the company charges 1% fee. Current companies include cheapair.com, Getyourguide, airBaltic etc. and also others are associated with crypto-powered gift cards.
Bitpay’s Merrick Theobald, ref. to aspects such as reach, support and marketing. “(Our team) can help build awareness and drive crypto customers to your website,” he said.
As for the popularity of cryptos, 82% of the audience chose bitcoin, which has been around for more than a decade, and 58% chose Ethereum, followed by Dogecoin (21%). Be it for its popularity and the market-size (global crypto users first crossed 100 million in January this year and then more than doubled in the first half of this year), crypto markets’ maturity or it evolving into an asset class, a lot of factors are being assessed.
The event also featured UATP’s Rachel M. and Wendy Ward.
By Ritesh Gupta
Ai Team
