Bitcoin for Boutiques: Intuit Adds Support for the Digital Currency

Recently announced from Intuit’s tech labs, “Intuit’s new PayByCoin service is made possible by a new integration between QuickBooks Online and Coinbase, the largest and fastest-growing Bitcoin wallet service in the United States.”

PayByCoin is now available as a free add-on to small business operators who use QuickBooks Online to generate electronic invoices. Small business clients register with CoinBase and link their wallets to their existing QuickBooks Online account.

Intuit explains the process on their tech blog; when a customer receives an invoice, they will now have the option to pay by traditional credit card, or by Bitcoin. Intuit has not charged any fee for this new service, and also there is no fee for small businesses that use Coinbase.

Given the nature and scale of their business accounting software, QuickBooks, this step is a big precursor of the scope to which Bitcoin will increasingly find a foothold on its climb to becoming a major disruptive force in consumer retail payments.

The inherent value in the Bitcoin is its simplicity in use and the certainty of the sale. Allowing for negotiable ignorance and naivety, there is no countervailing thought or analysis which will prevent the Bitcoin protocol from becoming the dominating payments platform from which a broad cross section of consumers will want to transact. Nary is there an invention which simplifies life greatly that can be ignored for too long.

Enter QuickBooks Bitcoin Payments, a Bitcoin service that enables small businesses to take Bitcoin payments without ever having a Bitcoin wallet or ever seeing any Bitcoin. With QuickBooks Bitcoin Payments, you only see dollars when you accept Bitcoin payments and pay less on all Bitcoin transactions. (Compared to 1.75% to 2.75% + fees on most card transactions). Most of all vendors never worry about chargebacks from fraudulent buyers. Chargebacks don’t exist in Bitcoin.

Our perspective on this new currency changes as we see the technology adapting towards greater acceptance of digital currencies through a wider range of industry. Now with the advent of a major global payments processor entering the fray, the landscape of corporate competition will see many adjunct competitors try to take the stage shortly. With competitive innovation comes competitive company.