The virtual crytpto currency Bitcoin, really is a new paradigm, and, except for the lovers of ‘anything new’, payment providers and corporates are approaching it very carefully.

Payment systems

PayPal has begun to allow customers in North America to pay for non-physical goods like music using Bitcoin through third parties.

PayPal online have chosen to trial Bitcoin with three small payment processor companies - BitPay, GoCoin and Coinbase - who handle the Bitcoin payments on their behalf. To ensure that Bitcoin values do not fluctuate between time of purchase and processing, PayPal have insisted that the three companies have built in the necessary protections.

This is a major step for Bitcoin, but PayPals’s safeguards demonstrate how they remain wary of potential volatility.

Corporates 

Most corporate treasury departments have had a cursory look at the applicability of Bitcoins to their business model. In the FRIDAYclub WEBchat on 26 September, ABB explained how, the low value online payment that Bitcoins can be used for, did not apply to their business model. While SABMiller, the world largest brewer, explained how they have had a brief look at Bitcoin, as they operate in markets where accepting low value payments by mobile are a must. They accept that possibly, in the long run, they might have to accept payment by Bitcoin if that is the only way a significant number of their customers wanted to pay. 

But both corporates were very cautious, and needed much more proof of Bitcoins viability and practicality before they would take the risk of using Bitcoin commercially.