We should have an 'Ideas' forum
agree
Topic: My idea: bitcoin debit cards. (Read 1419 times)
that will cost money to get it running... and the end result is how does the organization that put it together make a profit?
Fees.
You did notice that exactly the same system was invented once already, right? And it can already handle multiple currencies and do automatic conversion? All that is missing is for them to accept BTC.
The opportunity exists today to set this up, but the window will close the minute that Visa or MasterCard or Discover realizes they are missing a market.
True, visa and mastercard are going to have a bitchfit when they realize that people are using these types of services. What I am thinking is that by then if we get lots of people using these types of services then merchants are going to start accepting btc directly through their cash register machines. Merchants are out there to make the most money and if lots of people are starting to use btc then they will jump to accept it.
The fact of the matter is that we NEED to create some sort of system like the one I described. Using debit cards makes doing commerce easy and easy is what bitcoin needs.
We should have an 'Ideas' forum
There's been a lot of talk about just such a debit card for gold in Utah. Structure should be identical, except for BTC backing, rather than physical gold.
that will cost money to get it running... and the end result is how does the organization that put it together make a profit?
Fees.
You did notice that exactly the same system was invented once already, right? And it can already handle multiple currencies and do automatic conversion? All that is missing is for them to accept BTC.
The opportunity exists today to set this up, but the window will close the minute that Visa or MasterCard or Discover realizes they are missing a market.
that will cost money to get it running... and the end result is how does the organization that put it together make a profit?
As we all know bitcoins are rather difficult to exchange and not many merchants accept bitcoins. Well, there could be a possible solution to this and I call it the bitcoin debit card.
Just like a traditional bank, you would open up an account and fund it with some bitcoins. Then you would be issued a bitcoin debit card that works with most merchants that accept credit/debit cards. You would be able to use it without having to constantly convert from btc to usd. Here is how this would work:
Lets say you want to buy gasoline at the local gas station. They only accept USD. So you pump 50$ USD worth of gas then pay using your bitcoin debit card. When this transaction is being processed the bitboin bank will sell your bitcoins and get usd which it uses to pay the 50$ bill. If the merchant accepts bitcoins then it will just transfer btc directly to their btc wallet.
This will eliminate the need to constantly buy/sell bitcoin on an exchange and make the process of using bitcoins very easy and not much of an inconvenience. You could entirely dump your fiat (except for some emergency cash under the mattress) and have your money stored entirely in btc.
You could also greatly reduce fraud by making it easy for users to transfer btc in and out of the bank. For example, if you know you are going out on the town then you could transfer some btc to your account and then go out on the town and buy whatever you like. When you get home, you can transfer all the remaining btc back to your wallet. If your account ever gets hacked then the hacker won't get away with much since there won't be any btc in the account.
If done correctly, bitcoin has the potential to be more secure than traditional banking.
Just like a traditional bank, you would open up an account and fund it with some bitcoins. Then you would be issued a bitcoin debit card that works with most merchants that accept credit/debit cards. You would be able to use it without having to constantly convert from btc to usd. Here is how this would work:
Lets say you want to buy gasoline at the local gas station. They only accept USD. So you pump 50$ USD worth of gas then pay using your bitcoin debit card. When this transaction is being processed the bitboin bank will sell your bitcoins and get usd which it uses to pay the 50$ bill. If the merchant accepts bitcoins then it will just transfer btc directly to their btc wallet.
This will eliminate the need to constantly buy/sell bitcoin on an exchange and make the process of using bitcoins very easy and not much of an inconvenience. You could entirely dump your fiat (except for some emergency cash under the mattress) and have your money stored entirely in btc.
You could also greatly reduce fraud by making it easy for users to transfer btc in and out of the bank. For example, if you know you are going out on the town then you could transfer some btc to your account and then go out on the town and buy whatever you like. When you get home, you can transfer all the remaining btc back to your wallet. If your account ever gets hacked then the hacker won't get away with much since there won't be any btc in the account.
If done correctly, bitcoin has the potential to be more secure than traditional banking.
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