2015-01-28 CA - Bitwala Lets You Pay Your (Recurring) Bills With Bitcoin

[jdebunt]

http://www.cryptoarticles.com/crypto-news/bitwala-lets-you-pay-your-recurring-bills-with-bitcoin

Lots of Bitcoin-related services are really making a stand to directly compete with the current financial ecosystem. BitWage, a service we briefly talked about in this article, lets you receive (part of) your monthly wage in Bitcoin, without your employer knowing about it. But now there is also Bitwala, which lets you pay any bills you may have directly with Bitcoin.

[aigeezer]

Three percent fees. No thanks.

"To become “Level 2 verified”, users will need to submit a utility bill and scan of their passport." - ridiculous!

[jdebunt]

Three percent fees. No thanks.

"To become “Level 2 verified”, users will need to submit a utility bill and scan of their passport." - ridiculous!

Well 3% while in BETA, so it might change at some point? We'll see

EU Laws require that type of identity verification for sending up to 1,000 EUR per month with an online service , not much they can do about it

[aigeezer]

Three percent fees. No thanks.

"To become “Level 2 verified”, users will need to submit a utility bill and scan of their passport." - ridiculous!

Well 3% while in BETA, so it might change at some point? We'll see

EU Laws require that type of identity verification for sending up to 1,000 EUR per month with an online service , not much they can do about it

I am in another jurisdiction, so it is moot for me. Amazing what people will put up with though. In my jurisdiction Visa (ugh) offers a 1-2% rebate (not surcharge) if you use their card to pay recurring bills automatically online - no passport needed, but probably just because they know everything about you already.

Regardless, I find the notion of needing a passport to pay recurring utility bills - um - ridiculous. I don't think it is what Satoshi had in mind.           

[bitwala]

Dear bitcoin user,

thanks for the honest feedback.

Our software is in beta status, that's why our service charges a higher fee.

We simply need to cover some start-up costs and plan to reduce the pricing as soon as possible.

The website is pretty new at the market and we are iterating the product and process.

Please let us know about more features or challenges we should go for.

Bitwala

[aigeezer]

It's good to see someone from Bitwala engage in the thread.

I seek transactions that are fast, convenient, available in my arbitrary dirtspace location and private. Your service seems promising on the first two features. My existing fiat/Visa services offer the first three at a discount. I would probably pay a premium (over fiat services) for the fourth criterion if I could find it but I would not pay a premium to access betaware.

I think it is none of Big Brother's business when/how/whether I pay a phone bill. Big Brother thinks otherwise. This will all play out in time, no doubt.

Good luck with your venture, regardless.

[bitwala]

Sure, we are open for our bitcoin users and their feedback.

So far, our transactions are fast (usually 1, maximum 2 business days) and convenient.

We exclusively focus on Europe so far to cover our market where we got experience building software solutions.

Since most of received invoices are less than a hundred EUR, our service is private for most of the transactions and customers.

We are going to adopt the premium pricing soon and keep you updated here.

Thank you

[aigeezer]

Since most of received invoices are less than a hundred EUR, our service is private for most of the transactions and customers.

Good point. That helps for sure.

[bitwala]

Thank you, we updated our pricing a bit.

Read more about on our blog.

As well, we opened up an official thread for users to post technical feedback and independent reviews.

Please follow up at Marketplace > Service Announcements.

Kind regards.

[Kprawn]

This is what is wrong with Bitcoin at the moment.

Everyone wants a piece of the Bitcoin pie. The Bitcoin technology was suppose to remove the intermediary {3rd party} between people, doing transactions with Bitcoin.

It starts with 3%... then people cannot go without it, and then they increase the fee's. This is how banks are operating.

The question is... Do we need a service like this this? Can online wallet providers provide recurring payments without fee's?

I welcome services like this, that would make the transition from banks easier, but are they not just a equal substitute for a bank, if you pay them the same fee's than what you paying banks now for the same rate?

There are room for improvement, if you want to replace the role of banks. 

   

[cr1776]

Dear bitcoin user,

thanks for the honest feedback.

Our software is in beta status, that's why our service charges a higher fee.

We simply need to cover some start-up costs and plan to reduce the pricing as soon as possible.

The website is pretty new at the market and we are iterating the product and process.

Please let us know about more features or challenges we should go for.

Bitwala

Usually one charges LESS in beta or makes it free to attract users to test it, and doesn't charge someone extra to do so.  ;-)  

Keep up the work on it and engaging people!  That is how it will improve.

[Kprawn]

Dear bitcoin user,

thanks for the honest feedback.

Our software is in beta status, that's why our service charges a higher fee.

We simply need to cover some start-up costs and plan to reduce the pricing as soon as possible.

The website is pretty new at the market and we are iterating the product and process.

Please let us know about more features or challenges we should go for.

Bitwala

Usually one charges LESS in beta or makes it free to attract users to test it, and doesn't charge someone extra to do so.  ;-)  

Yes, take Africa as a example ---> http://www.fastcompany.com/3038472/bitcoins-big-opportunity-in-africa

Banks, was too expensive and then they started using M-pesa. The problem with M-pesa are the involvement of 3rd party telecoms companies. They are now moving slowly to Bitcoin in it's purest form, to make it as cheap as possible for the poor people.

We are talking about a Billion dollar industry. {So smaller fees, will attract a bigger portion of a Billion dollar remmitance market and profits will rise without having to rely on HUGE fees}

[1986]

Three percent fees. No thanks.

"To become “Level 2 verified”, users will need to submit a utility bill and scan of their passport." - ridiculous!

Ya, I wouldn't like to use one of these services currently as I'd rather hold my coins for a bit with the value being so low, but I'd like to use one in the future but not with 3% fees. There's no benefit of using one.

[bitwala]

Dear bitcoin users,

Bitwala is certainly not a bank but service as a software.

Our service recently reduced our trading exchange rate by 2.5 % and lowered our operations fees.

Find out more about us and why we started the Bitwala transfer service: We just published a background story to explain what kind of use cases we see to pay your bills with Bitcoin.

Bitwala empowers reliable solutions If you want to send money from anywhere in the world to your family or friends in Europe or you want to pay off private debt or liabilities from service providers e.g. telephone or Internet companies.

Let us know If you have features requests or honest feedback.

Give us a try and pay your next SEPA bill with bitcoin!

Kind regards,
Bitwala

[donschoe]

The question is... Do we need a service like this this? Can online wallet providers provide recurring payments without fee's?

I welcome services like this, that would make the transition from banks easier, but are they not just a equal substitute for a bank, if you pay them the same fee's than what you paying banks now for the same rate?

Not getting your point. I don't know how to send Bitcoin to a SEPA bank account without using a 3rd party service like bitwala. And as long not 9 out of 10 merchants accept Bitcoin someone certainly needs services like this.