Topic: Adoption, Merchants & My view and others >> Debit cards Vs Bitcoin. (Read 727 times)

Hi Guys,

I have some Ideas which I am curious about. Its mainly about the merchants that accept BTC.

First though just want to tell you where I am at (BTW -It is like 2 am now excuse the grammar and spelling jst too tired to go back and read through it)--

Anyways....
I love the idea of bitcoin, I am a believer and I can see how this can change the financial world as we know it today (not just the financial world either), so there is no need to convince me as I have seen the light and there is no going back.

It would be extremely disappointing if this does not take off like most of us thought it would and worse off, just die off all together. Then one day in the future sitting on the lounge watching the history channel seeing something that jogs the memory and you start talking to your kids or grand kids.." Back in the day there was a different kind of money, one that is more pure than the one you are holding now in fact it was also programmable and fully controlled by ones self no middlemen or trust figures needed" Kids reply >> " So what happen!? That sounds awesome, why aren't we using it now instead of these stupid paper notes and these plastic CC card things?" My answer would be -- Hmmm Government/Bank pressure And the main part >>>> People just didn't get it! Simple as that! Adoption failed numbers dwindled and went to vapor, majority failed to see the potential and missed out on a massive innovation leap forward and here we are now, doing the same shit not having full control over our money.

Hopefully we don't get to this point and we force the way, if they cannot see it, well then let them see it by our numbers. Here is where my merchant question comes in. At this point there is really no point in a consumer to spend bitcoin? People can say "Privacy is a bonus" but thats it.. Yes I know privacy is our given right and this is a VERY big plus, but let me tell you something. The majority of people just don't give 2-shits about it until something bad happens to them and lets face it 95% of people will go on living there lives with no issue, no Credit card details were stolen or there details used in fraud, 95% of people will make it through life without an issue. And if it was an issue where someone stole your credit card and spent some money it may have happened once or twice very unlucky  but the annoying bank may have taken their time but rectified it for you and returned the funds, I know it has never happened to me or anyone in my family or the colleagues I work with -- So anyway my point is Privacy is not the driver to get adoption.

We most likely will get adoption for remittance purposes but who knows when and how long this will take and if the BTC merchants do not become greedy and start charging more fees than they need to. If the fees are not that much more than they will probably stick to the remittance process they are comfortable with, the fees must be cheaper enough to be worth it.

But I think that the actual Driver in our area is Really simple! In fact REALLY simple. Its MONEY! Everyone cares about Money and how much it costs us to buy things, even if it was a little harder to do. For Example; Maybe like >> press 3 buttons instead of 1 to make a transaction people would rather press 3 if they new they will have more money at the end of the transaction. In Australia we have a thing called Paywave Most likely it is in other countries but called something else, but anyways, for all purchases under $100 all you need to do is tap the plastic card on the terminal and your transaction is paid for, for all we know there are no fees unless off course the merchant incorporates it in there products. But the majority of people don't know and don't care because they see the price is the same across the board, cash, Card its all the same price, they see that its simple enough already why do I need to go exchange money into BTC and then purchase the same thing I could of done with my Debit Card --  This reminds me, in Austalia diamondcircle.net is coming out with a product called bitwave, exactly like this paywave debitcard but it takes money out of your BTC wallet via a btc debit card, good thing is, the BTC wallet is also COLD you have full ownership over it and the keys. Hopefully merchants start taking up this new service! But the problem is not how many merchants start accepting BTC its how many consumers want to spend it.

Now here is where I am getting at -- Why aren't Merchants Giving at least 1/2 the amount in fee savings back to the customer? I mean it makes perfect sense, If  the outside world start to see  2-4% saving if you use Bitcoin EVERYwhere they go, I mean Everywhere... Well guess what they are going to start doing? Try get their hands on BTC to make purchases that's what!
Example www.dcpos.com is a payment processor here which charges 0.5% transaction fee. There is also www.bitpos.me sitting @ 1% and then you have bitpay with 0% but the withdrawal bank deposits are a minimum of $1000, which is still good for the medium to large businesses.

If I Am I missing something here and products are in fact cheaper when you pay using bitcoin? Correct me ! But if they are the same price and I have a Debit card in my wallet but no bitcoin, I am going to simply tap my card on the terminal and walk away with my product. Even if it was online the hassle of going to buy Bitcoin and then using the bitcoin to purchase outweighs the privacy benefit for most people remember many people don't give a shit until something happens... its just how most people are.

So I am just thinking, Is there a way to get the message through to merchants, If they start reducing costs for people who use bitcoin simply because its cheaper for the merchant to use also, this will eventually increase adoption FAR more than just saying its better because its private and more secure.

My thoughts

A.