The opportunity for Pay with crypto: attract new customers, who spend 2x more per transaction

Crypto is not just for investing; more and more consumers globally are looking for ways to pay with their crypto, and in response, more businesses are accepting direct crypto payments.

According to a report published by BitPay, up to 40% of customers who pay for goods and services with bitcoin are new customers - and they spend twice as much online as credit card users. While the number of businesses worldwide that accept cryptocurrency is estimated to be around 15,000, these businesses include household names like Microsoft, ATT, Burger King, Subway and KFC.

BitPay also found that merchants benefit from accepting cryptocurrency because they were able to generate new sales by attracting first-time buyers to their platform who prefer to use their crypto to pay. Further, the average size of transactions made by these customers was larger because those who pay with crypto tend to spend more than those who pay with other methods. 

Without getting deep into blockchain mechanics, this spending behaviour can be attributed to the nature of fees charged for cryptocurrency transactions. The fees are a function of blockchain network congestion and are not based on a fixed percentage of transaction value. This means that the more you spend, the cheaper the transaction.

Cryptocurrency adoption has skyrocketed in South Africa, as international money movement issues and general economic uncertainty have driven consumers to purchase digital assets and currencies to protect the value of their assets. According to the Cullen Commission, South Africa has the 7th highest cryptocurrency adoption worldwide. An article released by Binance indicates that around 7.7 million South Africans own cryptocurrency, and that Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, and US Dollar Tether (USDT) are the most popular crypto assets in South Africa. Much of this growth is attributed to things like the nation’s well-organised financial markets, strict regulation (including recent classification of crypto assets as financial products that require regulation) and access to trading platforms.

Pay with crypto as a differentiator in a competitive market

If you operate in ultra-competitive industries like Online Gaming, E-Commerce or Travel, finding attractive differentiators for your business is critical to survival. A standardised customer experience is often expected from platforms in these industries, where the product offerings tend to be similar. Where is the opportunity for experience differentiation?

The payment experience is often overlooked as a way to attract and retain new customers. While not nearly as glamorous as having a platform feature that none of your competitors have, we’ve seen that the businesses that stay on top in these homogenous industries prioritise a reliable and seamless payment experience.

Reliability and payment method variety go hand in hand. Having a reliable card payment processing flow will certainly aid conversion, but what about users who prefer open banking products? And what about the users you could attract and retain by providing methods none of your competitors have?

Pay with crypto is the latest addition to the Stitch payments stack. It allows customers to pay for products and services with the cryptocurrency of their choice while you get settled in fiat currency. Businesses bear none of the risk associated with handling volatile cryptocurrencies, and they get settled in ZAR. Customers can choose to pay from their VALR or Binance wallets, or send Bitcoin or Ethereum directly.

See how it works: