Bitcoin Forum

By the end of this year the largest banks in Sweden launch a service (http://www.getswish.se) that makes it possible to send money to a friend using your IPhone/Android phone by just knowing his/her phone number. The money will be at the receiver's bank account instantly, even if you don't use the same bank. Basically everyone in Sweden has an account with one of these banks and it sounds like it will be easy to activate the service by logging on to your online bank and providing your phone number. I think that this service will be quite a success.

Now, I want to be able to tell people that this is just as easy with Bitcoin with the added benefit of being able to send money to your friends all over the world. One key selling point that I see with Swish is that I just need to know someone's phone number. So, how close to this are we in the Bitcoin world? What can I recommend to people that is just as easy as Swish?

https://i.imgur.com/ZklFQl.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/E6ZcFl.jpg

Very close. Send money to anyone using their email address.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=91431.0

There's Coinapult too. I think that lets you send bitcoins to people's cell phones via SMS.

Using Coinapult.com (http://Coinapult.com) you can already send Bitcoin to an email address or phone number (via SMS). With the SMS system specifically, phones even without web access can hold bitcoins and transfer them to other phones. It's pretty badass.

With a blockchain.info you can instantly send to anyones:

email
sms
facebook

Oh and also the small added benefit of owning part of the only currency that is truly international and can increase hundred times in value over the years.

Tell them their money will lose value over time while bitcoin not!

+1 for Coinapult

Traditional banking is now coming around to customer transfer convenience, but they have a long way to go. Banks could have done so much more so long ago. Bitcoin is now on the scene and I doubt banks will be able to out-innovate/out-technology Bitcoin as things get going. Too little, too late.

Provided is a link to the web interface to claim the funds.


That's still just U.S. and Canada for that SMS wallet?

And phone number, if the phone number is not provided in the account, it will simply send an SMS.



https://cdn.walletbit.com/responsepay/includes/press/dashboard3.png

https://cdn.walletbit.com/responsepay/includes/press/send.png

https://cdn.walletbit.com/responsepay/includes/press/transactions.png


I like the interface of Swish though.

I think that ResponsePay is the closest thing to Swish that I've seen so far in terms of usability (well done!). I know that there are a number of other services that let's you send bitcoins to an e-mail address but it's pretty important in terms of user experience that it is:

Person1 sends money to person2@foo.com -> Money is in Person2's wallet.

and not

Person1 sends money to person2@foo.com -> Person2 checks his mail and clicks a redeem link -> Money is in Person2's wallet.

Amazing, they have invented M-pesa...which African mobile phone users have had for years

 ::)

Not only that, no inflation.

What are the fees that will no doubt be taken out of this Swedish cell phone transaction?

Regular people will use this because it is simple to get started and simple to use. It uses bank accounts that they already have and phone numbers that they already know. Most people don't care much about inflation or other theoretical aspects of money, they want money that is easy to use.

Regarding fees, it is not clear from the web page but I doubt that there will be any significant fees. Transferring money between the major Swedish banks is free (but not instant) today and they probably know that it will turn people off if they introduce large fees. My guess is that they will connect merchants to the system later and that that's where they will collect their fees.

I vote coinapult!

Well, it is better in one way.  A merchant accepting M-PESA payments will need to verify your identity (government ID).  This is used either online in-person, and has no requirement to show the recipient of the funds any ID.

Good point Stephen, I just think it is odd how far behind the "developed" world is in the payment space due to our existing, calcified, monopolies.

This is awesome, makes me want to buy some Kronas :P

As for the fees, a monthly/yearly fee would seem right. Unless this is a totally sponsored project, which would be awesome!

With Bitcoin you do not have to leave out you phone number to recieve a payment.
This means that you can recieve payments from anyone on the internet without giving out your number to everyone.