The BTGPay Program

Originally published at: http://bitcoingold.org/the-btgpay-program/

BTGPay: programs connecting merchants, services, and integrators to build solutions - and then helping consumers find them!

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Are you interested in knowing more about the BTGPay program?

Go here: What is BTGPay?

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Are you a merchant or store owner interested in BTGPay?

Go here: BTGPay for Merchants.

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Why set this up as the sender paying the transaction fee? I never use a credit card without getting my rewards and that causes the merchant to pay 2% up to 3% per transaction. I understand the SEC crap of a token being security vs utility but this is the only way a POMA will ever take hold. Just my opinion. I personally think the fee should actually be 50 bps with 40 bps going to the sender as a reward (or tiered by $ amount) and this would still be a 75% savings to the merchant. However, worldwide it may have to be lowered to interchange rates according to the country.

Rewards aren’t the primary cause of merchant fees - the credit card companies have many other costs and book tremendous profits, besides.

Credit card companies make roughly $100 billion per year, just in the US - and very little of that accrues to the benefit of merchants or consumers - you can be sure it just drives up the cost of business. It has been worth it because merchants need ways to take payment at a distance… now, we have crypto as an alternative.

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Totally agree MentalNomad. I know the interchanges rates are derived by where each card hits the rate bins. My point is that consumers want 1% cash back on purchases and choose cards according to this reward. The fact that the merchant has to pay the higher bin rate is irrelevant to the consumer. This mentality isn’t great but it is reality. My point was to entertain the idea of rewarding consumers to drive mass adoption instead of charging the consumer. Merchants would still save at least 1% and would adopt just for that savings. Crypto currencies are looking at mass adoption and the driver to this is consumer usage. Bottom line. In my scenario both consumer and merchant wins.

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Well, there’s the issue that the underlying mechanic for a crypto is simply that the sender pays the fee… the fee must go in along with the coins to be sent. When it comes to a crypto transactions on the BTG chain, the recipient (in this case the merchant) is a passive party.

I suppose one way around this is for a merchant to offer a discount to crypto buyers - with the cost of the “middle man” removed, if merchant and consumer split the benefit, everyone has an incentive.

Say something costs $100, Merchant pays 3% fee, and Consumer gets 1% "reward."
In effect, Consumer pays $99, Merchant gets $97, middle man gets $2.

Instead, for crypto, price is $100, Consumer pays discounted price of $98 and pays the fee (total payment $98.01), and the Merchant receives $98.

Another alternative is the price to be listed as $98, and all credit card purchase to be subject to an additional 3% fee. This might help make clear to people where the money is really going. I like this approach because it shows people where their “reward” comes from - if you pay 3% and get back 1%, it doesn’t sound like the greatest idea to use that credit card - and that’s the reality of the situation.

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That would be a great place to start with mass adoption of consumer usage. The true solution would be to build this onto an app that is used for the crypto exchange. You are spot on with your reasoning. Enjoyed the conversation MentalNomad!

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SO how soon can we start accepting BTG payments?? Can I implement this today on my website?

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Bear in mind that the BTGPay program isn’t a service that we, the Bitcoin Gold Organization, are going to stand up. As the organization supporting the coin, itself, we’re trying to stay non-commercial and non-partisan.

We’re working at putting together the various aspects of the BTGPay program to help put together merchants with the services they need - and there are existing 3rd parties working to give that service to you. We have merchants and services alike signing up, and we’re compiling the information.

@CryptoNomad - I believe you’ve said your sites are WordPress-centric. If so, you can use MyCryptoCheckout today; it provides integrations for Easy Digital Downloads and WooCommerce, and supports Bitcoin Gold (as well as several other currencies.) (Disclaimer: this is information about a publicly available service, and should not be taken as an explicit product endorsement or guarantee.)

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Clear…thank you very much @MentalNomad :pray:t4:

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