Cryptocurrency being used as payment option by customers
By Maurice Garvey
CRYPTOCURRENCY may still be in it’s infancy for the general public, but one local business are noticing a substantial amount of customers using it as a payment option with them for the first time.
Tallaght-based office and cleaning supplies company Purple Panda, offer cryptocurrency as a payment option in their office supplies section, but are considering this across all sectors of the business.
Gavin Kelly of Purple Panda
“We had only put up the option for crypto payments a couple of hours but somehow, people found us and some are using it with us as a way to find out how it works,” said Gavin Kelly, Sales & Marketing Director, Purple Panda.
“We don’t want to limit options for customers and put a lot of work into the customer side of things and the site, we wanted to have more ways to pay.
“I’ve always had an interest, but kept a keener eye on crypto in the last 12 months. What I’ve seen is people saving more and more money. Interest rates in the banks are so low.
“People are looking at new ways of making a return on their money. It is possible to turn €100 into a €1,000 for that iPhone you wanted.
“People want to make money off their money and especially when it can be done with a click, we all have a phone nowadays.”
Gavin acknowledges concerns about risks involved in cryptocurrency and a “volatile market”, but says this is balanced out on the “flipside” with more attractive rates, easier access to a 24-hour market, and he can see it becoming normalised in the years ahead.
“I envisage it becoming mainstream in a couple of years, not today, but fast forward five years, and more people will be using it,” he siad.
Purple Panda use Coinbase as their online exchange for cryptocurrency, which was set up in San Francisco in 2012, and has more than 30 million users.
Coinbase Ireland Ltd are authorised and regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland as an electronic money institution (fiat currencies).
“Coinbase are like a PayPal account. We give them the payment, Coinbase validates it. Most people now don’t have physical cash. With (digital wallets) like Google Pay and Apply Pay, there is unlimited value,” said Gavin.
“I think you are going to see more and more people trying crypto out.
“There is no restrictions and nothing like the 1 per cent for six months that you get in a bank. You can make changes or take your money out at any time.”
All crypto is accepted, but Kelly has seen Ethereum become “more and more popular in the last few years”.
“Bitcoin is like digital gold. It is starting to change it’s purpose.”
Gavin previously worked with Viking Direct in Dublin for nine years before they outsourced most of their staff.
While it didn’t affect Kelly’s job, he saw the knock on effect on sales and customer service, and set up Purple Hippo.
In November 2019, Purple Hippo merged with Bryan S Ryan in Tallaght Enterprise Centre to form Purple Panda.
“Lucky enough, people like using an Irish company,” he said.
“The best strategy was a new brand, and to go after the market in one of the fastest growing sectors.
“I took some of the Viking staff on, there is a hell of a lot of experience there. We invested heavily in our systems.”
For more information go to: Purple Panda.
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