How Your Customers Can Pay You with Crypto

It is essential to know the perspective of your clients, especially at key moments of transformation like checkout. An essential aspect of an effective checkout experience is providing an efficient, safe process for customers to pay out using the payment method of their choosing.

In this piece this article, we'll assist you in understanding how a transaction is handled from the perspective of your customer's point from a customer's perspective. With this knowledge you'll be able to recognize opportunities for increasing the rate at which you convert customers, give direct support, and educate the customers and potential customers.

Crypto vocab check

You can dig into the terms in these categories a greater depth in this article. But here's a summary of the most important terms:

Public key: Essentially what you need is information in order to send you cryptocurrency.

Public address: A hashed (basically short) version of an open key. It is the kind of address you could share with someone who wants to send you money. Think of it as a Venmo username or PayPal.me link. (e.g., 0x12B0aD31f483Cdf4741de8f5679A472E5fe3345G)

Keys that are private: allows user to have access to the funds transferred to the public key. The private key should never be disclosed to a third party.

Web3: Defined by AP Stylebook, Web3 is a catchall term for the prospect of a new stage of the internet driven by the cryptocurrency-related technology, blockchain.

Web3 wallet (crypto wallet): It stores private and public keys used for transactions in blockchain.

Seed word: A list of random words generated by a computer that allow access to a Wweb3 wallet. It can be used to gain access back to a wallet for cryptocurrency. This should never be shared with a third party.

The non-custodial wallet is owned by the user. their own private keys, and they have full access to their wallet on Wweb3. (e.g., Metamask, Trust Wallet. )

Custodial wallet: Private keys are possessed by third-party organizations. (e.g., Coinbase, OpenNode. )

Peer-to-peer payments

It's possible that you're thinking "Isn't one of the main advantages of cryptocurrency the fact they're peer-to-peer and don't rely on third party services?"

Absolutely, it is possible for you to receive funds from a customer without the use of any tool or service from a third party.

But, it's not realistic for the average person. It's not feasible for them to create their own node, generate transactions using a command line, and memorize their personal keys. Likewise, most merchants are happy to pay a small transaction cost to give customers a low-friction experiencewhile also saving much time and energy in reconciling transactions to their orders.

Therefore, this post focuses on the typical transactions made by e-commerce using tools and services most likely to be utilized by intermediate and beginner users.

An overview of how to make a cryptocurrency payment

From the perspective of a consumer There are three main steps to follow:

1. You can access a fundable digital wallet.
2. Connect their wallets.
3. Make the payment, and then receive a confirmation.

The specific experience depends on the payment processor and wallets involved. Let's run through some scenarios and discuss what's going on at each step for the customer.

1. Get access to a funded cryptocurrency wallet

There are lots of options for folks who want cryptocurrency wallets. Every option has distinct advantages, features and supports for various types of cryptocurrencies, chains, as well as payments.

'Traditional' digital wallet providers such as PayPal and CashApp currently support payment via crypto. The top crypto exchanges such as Coinbase, Crypto.com, and Binance have their own applications and also act as wallets for payments. There are also crypto-native wallets like MetaMask, Rainbow, and many other options. Do the necessary research in order to find the best option or options to suit your needs.

Once you have chosen a wallet and getting it set in place, your next stage is to incorporate cryptocurrency to it so that you have an available cash balance that you can use to purchase. It is typically a simple process because most wallets offer the option of purchasing in-app.

How does a buyer know which cryptocurrency to add?

This is a good question! In most cases, it doesn't need to be a factor, with the exception of fees that can add up when they need to change currencies. A few crypto payment processors offer automatic exchange services to allow customers to make payments in one currency and you will receive the money in a different.

Where that's not possible the majority of crypto wallets provide the ability to exchange or swap their wallets in real time, so if a customer holds bitcoin (BTC) however wants to pay using the cryptocurrency ethereum (ETH) it is possible to make that swap effortlessly. It is ideal to load your wallet with whatever currency you want to pay with, but it's not always feasible ahead when you decide to make a purchase.

2. Link their wallets with your website

There are two methods that customers can connect their wallets to your website: QR code or browser wallet connection. Payment processors that accept crypto may provide either or both choices.

QR code

This method is ideal for customers who have their crypto wallet as an application on their smartphone. If someone decides to pay with cryptocurrency, they'll be presented with a QR code that is scannable using a utility in the app for their crypto wallet.

The browser wallet is connected to your account

This method is ideal for users who have access to the crypto wallet using a web browser extension. If someone opts for this method, they're prompted to connect to their Web3 wallet via a button, which invokes the browser's wallet, and requests for the authorization needed to connect.

3. Pay the amount and you will receive confirmation.

Whatever method the user chooses to use, the wallet will then provide prompts that guide them to pay a bill - either in the application or in the browser.

After payment has been made the payment may be delayed. There is an indefinite time delay (usually only seconds) until payment confirmation through the blockchain. At this point, you and the recipient will receive confirmation. If transactions happen via blockchain, you might both also receive the blockchain transaction ID.

Then, that's it!

What exactly do these procedures mean for retailers?

There's a significant distinction between someone who's comfortable with crypto and ready to complete a transaction and someone who's never used crypto before. Getting set up with the right crypto wallet, financing it, and understanding how to make a transaction are all barriers in the way of access.

In the beginning, cryptocurrency transactions are expected to be made by more knowledgeable customers of crypto. Over time, this number is expected to grow dramatically. So, if your followers and customers have indicated that they're interested by crypto then it might be beneficial to direct them to reputable sources so they can learn how to make payments to you the way they prefer.

Advantages of cryptocurrency payment options for your clients

1. They have crypto, and they are eager to spend the money! It could be that they've been an early investor, they're an excellent trader, or get the money in cryptocurrency.
2. It's more affordable for customers to use crypto for direct transactions instead of paying exchange or charges for forex transactions in traditional payment methods. This can be particularly true in the case of international clients.
3. They may not have access to other payment methods.
4. Some prefer keeping certain transactions private or separate from their other financial activities.
5. It's easier and secure.
6. They value being able to transact without paying fees to traditional financial service providers (i.e., they're ideologically-driven).
7. There are no limits to daily payment amounts which is particularly true of high-cost, luxury things that could exceed a person's daily bank limits.
8. It's a cost for an digitally-native asset like an NFT.

Considerations of the customer to keep in the mind of

You can see that there's a wide range of possibilities in the field of payment via crypto based on customer experience. These are the points to keep in mind when choosing and operating crypto payment options:

1. How simple is it for your customers to pay? What are the best payment methods? what cryptocurrencies?
2. Do your customers get exposure to fees from crypto networks directly? It could be harder for them spend if the crypto network is extremely busy.
3. Are you confident about how to resolve disputes? This is particularly important in the absence of traditional refund and chargeback options. Frustrated or unhappy customers tend to be more likely to complain and post bad reviews.
4. What time will the customers have to wait for confirmation of orders? Based on the method you're using to allow clients to pay, they may need to wait longer than they normally do. This is why the use of a payment partner could aid, since they typically keep fees as well as confirmation times very low.
5. Do consumers require information? The customers may be interested in learning the ways to pay using cryptocurrency, as well as advice regarding security and how to avoid scams.

Your customers can trust you to help them embrace the new world of payment

Merchants can choose crypto payment processing methods that are straightforward and familiar. The customers, on the other hand, will be experiencing a distinct payment experience.

Millions of users that are currently eager, ready and capable of paying with the crypto. While crypto payment options have become more simple and easier but it's important that merchants understand their customers' experiences and the implications of their decisions so that they can make the most of this potential for growth.