When the Bitcoin bug bit back in 2009, it was pure jargon that made sense to a few tech-savvy people. But a lot of things have changed in a decade. Today, cryptocurrency is all the buzz as more businesses – big and small – rush to adopt this tech-forward mode of payment.
As more people understand the nuances of blockchain technology and cryptocurrency, it’s worth considering accepting crypto payments on your WordPress website. It’s fairly easy thanks to cryptocurrency payment processors, digital wallets, and WordPress plugins that make the process a breeze.
And in today’s post, you will learn why it’s worth accepting crypto on your WordPress site. You will learn how to configure the entire thing using a popular payment gateway known as CoinGate. In other words, you will learn how to enhance your customer’s journey by offering more payment options during checkout.
With that preamble, let us get down to work.
Why Accept Cryptocurrency?
In layman’s language, cryptocurrency is a digital currency that is not controlled by any bank or government. The currency uses encryption (or rather cryptography) to process transactions and keep everything secure. Due to its decentralized nature, crypto offers you some benefits that traditional methods (such as credit cards) can’t.
- Faster transactions – Unlike traditional methods that take days to process payments, cryptocurrency payments process immediately, offering you faster access to your funds. Faster transactions can help you stay on top of things as far as your business cash flow goes.
- Lower transaction fees – Merchants pay conventional credit card companies and payment process a fraction of each transaction. If you process many transactions, these fees can quickly add up. Cryptocurrency has significantly lower transaction fees compared to credit card companies and services such as PayPal.
- Broader customer base and increased sales – Offering more payment methods on your checkout page give you access to a broader market of tech-savvy customers in the crypto community. On top of that, cryptocurrency allows users to send money anywhere in the world, which allows you to open doors to consumers who don’t have credit cards or access to PayPal in their countries.
- Better security – Cryptocurrency is a peer-to-peer form of payment meaning the transaction occurs only between you and the buyer. Middlemen, such as banks and credit card companies don’t exist, which reduces the chances of eCommerce fraud. Once the transaction is complete, the buyer or the middlemen cannot reverse the transaction, which protects you from fraudulent chargebacks. Additionally, cryptocurrency uses complex coding and encryption, which makes it hard for hackers to intercept transactions.
- Convenience for your customers – Accepting cryptocurrency payments on your WordPress website offers your customers more payment options while keeping their information extra safe.
As you can see, accepting cryptocurrency has some notable benefits for your business. In the upcoming section, you will learn what makes CoinGate a great choice as you add cryptocurrency to your WordPress site.
What Makes CoinGate a Great Choice
CoinGate is one of the best cryptocurrency payment processors around. What that means is they help you to process crypto payments on your website. Once they process any cryptocurrency payment, you can withdraw to your bank account (in fiat currency i.e., USD, Euro, or Pound) or keep the crypto coins in your digital wallet.
It’s advisable to send the funds to your bank account since Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are highly volatile. So, what makes CoinGate a great choice out of the many crypto gateways out there? Here are a couple of reasons that influenced us to choose CoinGate for today’s tutorial.
Feature Highlights
- Easy WooCommerce integration – Cryptocurrency is already complicated as it is. You don’t need technical hurdles to get in your way when integrating crypto payments to your WordPress website. That’s why CoinGate offers you a beginner-friendly WordPress plugin that integrates seamlessly with your WooCommerce store. On top of that, CoinGate is incredibly easy to use thanks to an intuitive user dashboard.
- Tons of currencies and countries – At the time of writing, CoinGate supports more than 75 currencies, and close to 100 countries. You can reach an international audience and process a ton of different currencies including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, and so much more.
- Low fees – Of the cryptocurrency payment processors I came across, CoinGate charges some of the lowest fees in the industry. CoinGate charges between 0 and 1% processing commission for all buttons, plugins, web PoS, APIs, and billing. No setup or recurring charges as well. This will save you a lot of money in the long run.
- No chargebacks – CoinGate doesn’t initiate costly chargebacks. If a buyer needs a refund, they will have to pick that up with you, the merchant, directly.
- Merchant directory – When you earn cryptocurrency coins, CoinGate offers you a curated directory of stores and an assortment of more than 1,500 gift cards that allow you to spend your coins instead of converting them. Popular stores include Walmart, Overstock, and Alternative Airlines, among others. Popular gift cards include Fortnite, eBay, Amazon, Macy’s, and so much more.
