Over a year ago Yamada Denki and Bic Camera, two of the biggest electronics retailers in Japan, introduced Bitcoin as a method of payment. Both retailers have partnered with bitFlyer to enable Bitcoin payments using bitFlyer’s point-of-sale (Pos) payments infrastructure. This is not the first case of a partnership between a retailer and a crypto-related company, and there is growing evidence that more businesses are interested in using cryptocurrencies as a method of payment despite the overall crypto market cap loss.
At the same time, the Japanese government is making a push to encourage its citizens to use digital payments, so accepting cryptocurrency as payment is a logical step for businesses to take. It’s also logical to see bitFlyer as a partner for Japan’s biggest retailers, considering the leading position of the company in Japan’s cryptocurrency market.
In 2019, however, we might see even greater Bitcoin penetration, as bitFlyer has gone further and integrated its platform with major online and offline retailers, such as Dominos and Adidas, to offer customers special discounts and cashback. To coincide with bitFlyer’s European and US expansion, we want to show you how bitFlyer is not only an exchange but a marketplace where you can pay for your favorite goods and services with Bitcoin safely and easily.
Paying for products with Bitcoin through bitFlyer
At the moment, the overwhelming majority of companies based in Japan that are thinking about allowing their customers to pay with cryptocurrencies have partnered with bitFlyer to use this service as an exchange between the Yen (JPY) and BTC. However, bitFlyer now goes far beyond the exchange functionality; it now provides an all-in-one shop for its users where they are able to spend their cryptos on a variety of products and services. On the Japanese version of bitFlyer’s website, there is a dedicated page for all available offers, including products and services in different categories, such as finance & insurance, travel, hobbies, food, entertainment, and fashion. All the companies presenting these categories provide additional amenities to bitFlyer users in different forms:
- Cashback on plane tickets and accommodation including Expedia, Hotels.com, Skyticket.jp, JAL, ANA and Qatar Airways,
- Discounts, and cashback at the leading stores in Japan: Rakuten, Puma, Adidas, DELL, HP, and Fujitsu;
- Extra benefits when using so-called “point exchange” (loyalty schemes) programs (G-Point, PointExchange, PointTown, Moppy);
- Many other offers from brands including Pizza Hut, Domino’s, Puma, Adidas, Dell, and HP.
In order to start using the benefits of bitFlyer’s shop, the user only needs to register on the official bitFlyer website, which makes this one of the most convenient places to do your online shopping.
bitFlyer as a marketplace
bitFlyer also has a section dedicated to business partnerships called BitWire. Here, retailers and sellers can partner with bitFlyer to sell their products using this platform as a marketplace. Just by signing up to bitFlyer, any retailer can get access to bitWire and create a bitWire link for any of their products or services. Then, the platform will generate a QR code, which, along with bitWire links, will be displayed on the retailer’s website. When a buyer comes up to purchase some item, he will only need to scan the QR code of the product using the dedicated bitWire app, and in this way, the transaction will be confirmed instantly. The speed and simplicity of use are not the only advantages of using BitWire as a marketplace. There are no initial expenses or monthly costs for retailers. They only have to pay a 1% payment fee for each BTC payment’s value, making BitWire one of the most affordable platforms for engaging in online commerce.
As we stated above, for the moment, bitFlyer works not only as an exchange but also as a marketplace that allows each party to benefit by helping to facilitate relationships between customers and consumers. Customers have a novel way to reach clients, offering a new method of payment and special offers, while clients can take advantage of these offers through the service.
However, this is not the full list of bitFlyer features. Other services of the platform include:
- chainFlyer - a blockchain explorer service that gives an easy to understand visualization of the Bitcoin structure. The service allows users to see Bitcoin transactions in real time along with the estimated and confirmed balances of crypto wallets, the number of transactions, and information about senders and receivers.
- fundFlyer - a platform for crowdfunding and donations in Bitcoin in a wide range of fields such as art, invention, software development, social initiatives, political activity, etc. The latest projects on the platform include fundraising of 10 BTC for the construction of a school in a small village in Ghana and the collection of 15 BTC for the “Everyone Everest” initiative, which aims to organize live internet broadcast from Everest climbers.
- BTC News - a media site for recent Bitcoin-related news from around the world.
- Echo - a service that allows users to send small quantities of Bitcoin to multiple recipients and get special points that can be collected and exchanged for Bitcoin later.
Check these and other services on the official bitFlyer website.
