BitPay has announced on its company blog that its card will now only work with wallets secured with the 'Bitcoin Payment Protocol'.
No refunds
This system was designed because of issues regarding refunds for Bitcoin Payments . Mistaken and incorrect payments are difficult to resolve because Bitcoin transaction fees are so high. This causes merchants to be even less eager to refund money than they usually are. And when money is refunded with Bitcoin, the process can take days. Transaction fees can even be higher than the refund itself.
Don't make mistakes
The solution to this, as seen by BitPay, is to implement a receipt system which makes it impossible to send an incorrect amount of Bitcoin. Once the Bitcoin Payment Protocol is installed in a wallet, the user will not be able to execute a payment unless the receiving wallet also has the system installed. The system itself prevents incorrect payments via an invoice that must be confirmed by both parties.
BitPay is a Bitcoin payment processor from Atlanta, US. The BitPay Card allows customers to pay with Bitcoin at retail outlets.
The number of companies accepting Bitcoin is growing rapidly - BitPay was processing 200,000 transactions by December of 2016, according to the company's website. A few months ago, the company signed an agreement with Amazon through which gift cards became purchasable with Bitcoin. It also partnered with Aliant this year, further extending its reach.
