What Your Customers can Pay You with Crypto

Feb 15, 2023

It is essential to know the perspective of your clients particularly at crucial conversion points like checkout. The most important aspect of having an efficient checkout process is to provide a safe, easy process for customers to pay out with the payment method of their choosing.

In this piece this article, we'll assist you in understanding the process of making a payment from the point of view of your clients' from a customer's perspective. With this knowledge you'll be able to identify opportunities to boost the rate at which you convert customers, give assistance directly, and inform your clients and customers.

Crypto vocab check

There is a way to study the terms in these categories a bit further here. Here's a brief overview of the key terms:

Public Key: Essentially it is the data that someone requires for sending you cryptocurrency.

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

A private key allows user to gain access to funds that have been transferred to an open 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 phrase: A list composed of 12-24 random-generated words which grant access to a Wweb3 wallet. This can be used to recover access to a cryptocurrency wallet. It is not recommended to share this information with a third party.

The non-custodial wallet is owned by the user. their private keys and possess all access to their Wweb3 wallet. (e.g., Metamask, Trust Wallet. )

Custodial wallet Keys to private accounts are owned by third-party organizations. (e.g., Coinbase, OpenNode. )

Peer-to-peer payments

You might be thinking "Isn't a major point of cryptocurrency the fact they're peer-to peer and do not rely on third parties?"

It is possible for you to receive funds from a customer without the use of an external tool or third-party tool.

This is simply not practical for the common user. They're not going to run their own node, generate transactions via a command line, or even remember their personal keys. In addition, the majority of sellers are content to shell out a tiny fee for transactions to offer customers a simple experiencewhile also saving much time and effort reconciling payment to orders.

This article is focusing on the typical transactions made by e-commerce using tools and services most likely to be used by novice and intermediate users.

An overview of how to make a cryptocurrency payment

From a customer's perspective From the perspective of a customer, there are three steps:

  1. Access a fully funded crypto wallet.
  2. Connect their bank accounts.
  3. Make the payment, and then receive confirmation.

The experience you get will be based on the processing company and wallets used. Let's run through a couple of examples and talk about what's happening at each step for the customer.

1. Get access to a funded cryptocurrency wallet

There are a variety of choices for folks who want cryptocurrency wallets. Each one comes with its own features, benefits and supports for various currencies, chains, and payment experiences.

"Traditional" digital wallet providers like PayPal as well as CashApp now support cryptocurrency payments. The top crypto exchanges such as Coinbase, Crypto.com, and Binance provide their own apps, which also serve as wallets for payments. Additionally, there are wallets that are native to crypto such as MetaMask, Rainbow, and many other options. It is recommended to conduct your own research to determine the best option or options for you.

After choosing a wallet and setting it up, the next thing to do is to include a coins to the wallet so that you have an available amount to spend. It is typically a simple procedure since most wallets provide an in-app payment option.

What is the best way for a consumer to decide which currency to use?

It's a great question! Often, it doesn't actually need to be a factor, with the exception of charges that could add up when they need to change currencies. A few crypto payment processors offer automatic exchange services which allow users to transfer money with one currency, and then get it back in another.

In the event that that's not an option, most crypto wallets offer in-wallet exchange/swap functionality so that customers who have bitcoin (BTC) but wishes to pay in ethereum (ETH), they can make that swap easily. The ideal scenario is to load your wallet with whatever currency you want to pay in, however that's impossible in advance when you decide to make an purchase.

2. Make sure that their wallet is connected on your site

There are two main options for customers to link their wallets with your website. QR code or browser wallet connect. Payment processors that accept crypto may provide either or both as choices.

QR code

This route is best for people who own their crypto wallet installed as an app on their phone. When someone chooses to pay with crypto, they're presented with a QR code that they can scan with a application within their wallet application for crypto.

Image illustrating how crypto payments are made via QR code. 
Image text:
Crypto app payment via QR code
1. Merchant provides a QR code at checkout.
2. Customer scans the QR code to review and authorize the transaction in their crypto app.
3. Merchant site confirms receipt and completes the purchase.
Steps for receiving crypto payments through QR codes.

Browser wallet connect

This method is ideal for those who connect to their cryptocurrency wallet through an extension for their browser on the web. When a user chooses this option, they're prompted to connect to their Web3 wallet by clicking a button, which invokes the browser's wallet, and requests for authorization to connect.

Image illustrating how crypto payments are made via browser extension.
Image text:
Crypto wallet payment via browser extension
1. Merchant provides crypto payment options and browser wallet connection prompt.
2. Customer selects their browser wallet to review and authorize the transaction within the extension.
3. Merchant site confirms receipt and completes the purchase.
Steps for receiving crypto payments via browser extension.

3. Pay the amount and you will receive a confirmation.

Whatever method the user chooses to use The wallet will give them prompts to guide them to pay a bill - either in the application or in the browser.

After payment has been made, there can be some delay (usually less than a second) until payment confirmation through the blockchain. After this, both you and the recipient are both notified of the confirmation. Where transactions are made via blockchain, you might both also receive a blockchain transaction ID.

Then, that's it!

What exactly do these processes translate to merchants?

There's a big distinction between someone who's already comfortable with crypto and prepared to make a purchase as opposed to someone who has never heard of crypto before. Setting up an account in a crypto wallet, securing it and understanding how to make the transaction are all obstacles in the way of entry.

At first, most cryptocurrency transactions are expected to originate from experienced cryptocurrency users. Over time, this number will likely to increase dramatically. So, if your followers and clients have stated that they're interested in crypto It could be beneficial to direct them to reputable websites so that they will be able to learn the best way to pay you the manner they want.

The advantages of using crypto payments to your customers

  1. They have crypto, and they would like to use the money! It could be that they were an early investor, they're an expert trader or are their money in crypto.
  2. It's cheaper for them to use crypto for direct transactions instead of paying exchange or foreign exchange fees when making traditional transactions. This can be particularly true when dealing with international clients.
  3. It is possible that they do not be able to access different payment options.
  4. They may prefer to keep specific transactions secret or distinct from other activities in their financial accounts.
  5. The majority of them feel that it's more comfortable 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 is no limit to the amount of daily payments - this particularly applies to high-cost, luxury products that may exceed the user's daily banking limits.
  8. It's a cost for an digitally-native asset such as an NFT.

Considerations of the customer to keep in mind

You can see that there are a lot of choices in the field of payment via crypto based on customer perspective. There are a few things that are worth bearing in your mind when selecting and operating crypto payment options:

  1. How simple is it for your customers to pay? What are the best payment methods? the most popular cryptocurrency?
  2. Are your clients exposed to the fees of crypto networks in the direct manner? This could make it harder for them pay if a crypto network is extremely full.
  3. Are you clear about dispute resolution? It is crucial in the absence of the traditional credit and refund policies. Unhappy or angry customers tend to be more likely to complain and leave poor reviews.
  4. How long will customers need to wait to receive their the confirmation of their order? Depending on how you're allowing customers to pay, they may need to wait longer than they normally do. Again, this is where the help of a third party can aid, since they typically keep fees as well as confirmation time very short.
  5. Do consumers require education? They may benefit from education on how they can pay with crypto. They also need advice in securing themselves and staying clear of frauds.

Confidently help your customers embrace the new world of payment

Merchants are able to choose crypto methods that are easy and easy to use. The customers, on contrary, be experiencing a distinct payment experience.

There are millions of people that are currently prepared, eager and able to pay with cryptocurrency. Even though crypto payments are becoming easier and simpler, it's still important that merchants understand the experiences of their customers and the implications of their decisions so that they can make the most of this growth opportunity.