Just a few days ago, major Bitcoin exchange bitStamp announced customers would be able to buy digital currency with their credit card in the United Kingdom and Slovenia. No further countries were announced at that time, although it was only a matter of time until the option become available in other parts of Europe as well. Based on the company’s Twitter post earlier today, both German and Italy are now supported as well.
Also read: Does Bitcoin Need Opt-in Anonymity or More Privacy?
Buying Bitcoin in a convenient manner is still an issue all over the world, as most exchange platforms only accept bank transfers to process funds. The reason for this is very simple: credit cards have a high fraud and chargeback rate, which is a major issue when dealing with non-refundable digital currency such as Bitcoin.
That being said, if we ever want Bitcoin to become a major mainstream form of payment, credit card payments will have to be considered sooner or later by exchange platforms. Bitstamp is one of the first major exchanges to add this type of functionality, although they will not be processing the card transactions themselves.
Vogogo will be the company in charge of doing so as they are specialized in offering credit card payment processing at zero risk to the client. For a Bitcoin exchange such as Bitstamp, this is music to their ears, as the last thing anyone needs is worrying whether or not every individual Bitcoin purchase is legitimate or not.
By offering credit card payments as an option to buy Bitcoin in four European countries so far, Bitstamp is trying to make some of its lost momentum to other players like Kraken. Whether or not many consumers will start using their credit card to buy Bitcoin, remains to be seen, though, but it is a step in the right direction nonetheless.
Bitstamp users residing in the United Kingdom, Italy, Germany, and Slovenia can now purchase up to US$300 worth of Bitcoin per day, or US$1,500 per week. So far, there has been no word on whether or not these payment limits will be raised, as doing so will depend on the success of this service, and how fast Bitstamp can offer the solution to other countries.
All of the purchases made with a credit card should complete instant, making this the go-to solution for novice Bitcoin users who want to experience their first entry into the world of digital currency. Low limits are a positive trend as well, to avoid consumers spending all of their money on Bitcoin without properly realizing the consequences of doing so.
Source: Bitstamp Blog
Images credit 1,2
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