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ApplePay Faces Challenges in Europe

Various technology giants have been looking at the emerging mobile payments sector with great interest, particularly if they have already claimed some market share with regard to mobile devices, apps, and services. The big three in this regard are Apple, Google, and Samsung, and it could be said that Apple is in the best position to remain a leader, but this does not mean that it will be an easy undertaking.

Ready for Success

ApplePay seems to have all the ingredients to carve a nice slice of the mobile payments pie: the iPhone continues to be one of the most popular mobile devices in the world, and virtually all of its models in use today have Near Field Communications (NFC) technology, not to mention the recent introduction of the Apple Card and the heavy promotion of its various digital payments options. Although the North American market is one of the most lucrative for Apple’s ambitions with regard to smartphone payments, adoption is always quicker in Asia and Europe, and it is in the latter market where the company seems to have run into a snag.

According to a report published by CNBC, European Union regulators who oversee business competition and antitrust issues have been receiving complaints related to ApplePay, enough for Margrethe Vestager, director of the EU Competition Commission, to announce that her office will be taking a closer look into the way Apple is entering the mobile payments market in the bloc.

Cause for Concern

One of the issues that EU regulators are likely to consider is the way Apple creates mobile ecosystems that rely on exclusivity for their growth. The iPhone and the iPad are locked into a single operating system, and it so happens that the iOS Wallet app does not allow users to integrate payment options that are not controlled by Apple. To make matters even more complicated for Apple once EU regulators start looking into ApplePay, the NFC chip of iPhones is actually disabled during some point-of-sale transactions, thus leaving users with the option of using the payment service preferred by Apple.

Recent statements by executives at Apple Park are not making things easier on the company with regard to anti-competitive behavior. After the Apple Card was rolled out with the underwriting of investment banking giant Goldman Sachs, Apple made it clear that skyrocketing growth was on the horizon, and that this method of payment could soon overtake the market share held by PayPal.

Even though the EU is already looking into claims made by music streaming service Spotify against Apple, this is hardly the only technology giant being investigated for potential antitrust activity. Facebook and Google are also being looked into by EU regulators with regard to their offerings in the bloc, particularly the former with its intentions of providing a digital currency system that will enable payment transactions and money transfer services to users of Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp.

PayPal’s Xoom Launches Domestic Money Transfers with Walmart

PayPal’s international money transfer service Xoom has this week made the announcement that, for the first time, their customers will be able to make money transfers to recipients in the United States. These P2P mobile payments will occur in a matter of minutes thanks to strategic alliances set up with Walmart and money transfer company Ria.

This has the potential to benefit more than 44 million foreign-born men and women who are living in the U.S. and regularly send money to friends and family back in their native countries. The partnership with Walmart allows Americans to take advantage of Xoom to send money to one of almost 5,000 locations all over the country for almost immediate cash pickup.

In a statement earlier this week, Vice President and General Manager of Xoom Julian King said, “Many of our customers in the U.S. already send money to loved ones in the country, and they usually prefer that the money is available right away.” He went on to say, “This rollout reinforces our commitment to make money transfers fast, easy and affordable for everyone, whether they are at home or on the go.”

In addition to King’s statement, CEO of Euronet’s Money Transfer Segment Juan Bianchi said, “At Ria, we are delighted to further consolidate our relationship with Xoom and Walmart. Our continued partnership is a fine example of how Ria’s technology can serve as an enabler between platforms, offering consumers and partners an added layer of security and compliance screening, in turn facilitating value creation within the Fintech ecosystem.”

All of this comes shortly after Xoom expanded into the United Kingdom and European markets earlier in July with remittances being paid out to individuals living in 130 countries such as India, China, Nigeria, and the Philippines. Xoom also made the announcement in October that individuals in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and 31 other European markets are now able to directly send P2P payments to South Korean bank accounts. In only a matter of minutes, money can be sent from the app and received by Woori Bank, Shinhan Bank and Kookmin Bank.

Xoom has set themselves up as a pioneer in digital remittances by offering their customers fast and secure ways to send money and pay bills for friends and family living in over 160 countries worldwide. For many of these people all over the world, these remittances serve as something of a lifeline and help them to pay their day-to-day expenses such as medical bills, utility bills, and education costs. In the more traditional ways of old, the cash-based system of sending money to other countries has been full of costly fees, paperwork, and a load of uncertainty as to whether the money will arrive, or if the money will arrive in time for when it’s needed. PayPal and Xoom have been helping to improve and expand the finances of millions worldwide by providing them with speedy, secure payment options when sending money or making mobile payments across borders, only with none of the aforementioned drawbacks.

MasterCard Launches Global B2B Service

More than a year after announcing the launch of MasterCard Track, a B2B digital platform for improving global trade among small businesses, MasterCard has unveiled new plans to modernize business-to-business transactions even further. The new MasterCard Track Business Payment Service expands the focus of the digital platform for faster payments and data collection.

What Is MasterCard Track?

In 2018, MasterCard launched Track, a business-to-business platform to simplify and speed up global trade. The platform, powered by Microsoft Azure, connected buyers and suppliers with each other, lenders, and other networks.

Business-to-business transactions largely remain outdated despite rapid advancements in the rest of the business world. Manual invoicing and paper checks remain common with administrative costs nearing $500 billion. According to MasterCard, nearly 50% of all business-to-business transactions, or nearly $58 trillion, are still done on paper.

MasterCard Track partnered with nine procure-to-pay providers and business-to-business networks to help organizations maintain, exchange, and retrieve data about themselves and their partners. Track helps facilitate communication by connecting networks in a single platform.

What Is the Track Business Payment Service?

The Track Business Payment Service represents a new branch of the MasterCard Track platform that focuses on payments rather than networking and communication. The MasterCard Track Business Payment Service is the first commercial and global open-loop service built to automate business-to-business payments. The service modernizes payment processing by helping buyers and suppliers overcome outdated systems and improve the way businesses pay and get paid.

The Track Business Payment Service works as a single connection to combine multiple modern payment solutions with a focus on faster payments and real-time data collection.

All Payment Types in One Service

The Track Business Payment Service works as a single connection to combine multiple modern payment solutions with a focus on faster payments and real-time data collection.

Availability Begins in 2020

The MasterCard Track Business Payment Service is set to roll out across the world, beginning in the U.S. market in the first half of 2020. The service will be available to merchants and supplier partners who can incorporate it within existing products. Currently, the service is being piloted by partners including B2B payments optimizer Boost, payment solutions providers TSYS and CSI, Accounts Payable automation provider AvidXchange, and Accounts Receivable software providers HighRadius, YayPay, and VersaPay.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Mastercard’s new global B2B service?

Mastercard’s new global B2B service is a suite of products and services that allows businesses to send and receive payments more efficiently and securely. Mastercard Track can be used by businesses of all sizes, in all industries, and all countries.

Who can use Mastercard’s new global B2B service?

Mastercard Track can be used by businesses of all sizes, in all industries, and all countries.

How does Mastercard’s new global B2B service work?

Mastercard Track works by using a network of banks and financial institutions to facilitate payments between businesses. This network allows businesses to send and receive payments quickly and securely, regardless of their location.

What are the benefits of using Mastercard’s new global B2B service?

There are many benefits to using Mastercard Track, including:u003cbru003e u003cbru003e● Faster payments: Mastercard Track can help businesses send and receive payments up to 24 hours faster than traditional methods.u003cbru003e● Increased security: Mastercard Track uses the latest security technology to protect payments from fraud and theft.u003cbru003e● Reduced costs: Mastercard Track can help businesses reduce the costs associated with sending and receiving payments.u003cbru003e● Improved cash flow: Mastercard Track can help businesses improve their cash flow by making it easier to track and manage payments.

Who can use Mastercard Track Business Payment Service?

Mastercard Track Business Payment Service can be used by businesses of all sizes, in all industries, and all countries.u003cbru003e u003cbru003eHere are some additional details about Mastercard Track Business Payment Service:u003cbru003e u003cbru003e● Mastercard Track Business Payment Service allows businesses to send and receive payments using virtual cards. Virtual cards are one-time-use cards that are created for each payment. This helps to reduce fraud and improve security.u003cbru003e● Mastercard Track Business Payment Service is available through a network of banks and financial institutions.u003cbru003e● To get started with Mastercard Track Business Payment Service, you will need to contact your bank or financial institution.

US to Spend Record 126 Billion Online This Holiday Season [2023 Update]

According to recent data released by Adobe Analytics, American shoppers will be going online to spread the holiday cheer among retailers in 2019. The Adobe study was published a few weeks ahead of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, two of the most active and lucrative shopping events in the United States. As has been the case in recent years, e-commerce activity will once again expand this holiday season, and even brick-and-mortar chains will be processing more digital payments than they did in previous years.

Retailers in the U.S. got an early start on their holiday offerings because the season will be a few days shorter in 2019. Once the e-commerce extravaganza known as Cyber Monday wraps up, shoppers will only have 22 days to complete their lists before Christmas. As for digital payments, some shoppers will likely be eager to try out new methods such as the Apple Card on their iPhones. One trend that analysts believe will rise sharply this holiday season is the “buy online to pick up in-store” (BOPIS) method, which is attractive to retailers because they can launch strategic marketing displays near pick-up counters.

Black Friday was displaced by Cyber Monday as the busiest online shopping event of 2018, and this will probably happen again this year. All the economic elements seem to be in place for a busy holiday shopping season: the economy continues to show signs of stability thanks to low unemployment, and consumer confidence remains positive despite a few concerns related to delinquency in subprime auto loan payments. Reaching the projected $126 billion sales target should not be a problem unless political uncertainty in the White House reaches an overly critical point.

For brick-and-mortar retailers, even those that operate a single location, being able to offer a diversity of payment options will be crucial to their success this holiday season. Some financial institutions such as Ohio’s KeyBank are offering cashback rewards to shoppers who make online purchases, and this is a smart move to entice individuals concerned about the trade war between the United States and China, which has resulted in items such as toys and holiday decorations being priced higher this year.

How Artificial Intelligence is Impacting Cybersecurity [2023 Update]

AI has been something of a hot topic over the last few years, and many are debating whether or not its impact on human life is a good thing or a bad thing. AI is being relied upon more and more frequently by today’s enterprises, especially when it comes to cybersecurity. Here’s a look at the potential benefits and drawbacks.

The Positive Impacts of AI on Cybersecurity

In today’s online security world, secure biometric logins like fingerprints, retinas, or palm prints are being used with increasing frequency, either alone or in conjunction with a password. The majority of new smartphones use this technology, and with more and more large corporations being the victim of security breaches, cybersecurity experts have continually made it known that passwords alone can be extremely vulnerable.

Typically, information such as credit card numbers and other personal information such as email addresses and passwords is what gets compromised during a cyber-attack, so beefing up security with positive AI contributions such as biometric logins is a sure-fire way to tackle the problem.

AI is also able to detect all kinds of threats and potentially malicious activities. Unfathomable amounts of malware are created month after month, and older, conventional systems are simply unable to keep up. AI systems are being taught by cybersecurity companies to detect malware and viruses effectively with the use of complex algorithms. Even the smallest behaviors of malware or ransomware attacks can be picked up by an AI system and dealt with before they can achieve their goals.

Multi-factor authentications are one of the applications to which AI systems can be applied. If different users within a company have different levels of authentication privileges, also depending on where they’re accessing the data, AI can provide a much more dynamic authentication framework, which can collect the user information, in real-time, to understand the behavior of the person and determine their access privileges.

It’s estimated that up to 85% of customer interactions can be managed with AI as early as next year, and many e-commerce businesses have already turned to some type of AI to generate leads, improve customer experience, and gather insight into customer behavior. For example, an e-commerce business can improve the customer sales experience by integrating the technology with a CRM system to solve customer problems, answer questions, or support voice input.

The Negative Impacts of AI on Cybersecurity

While the positive impacts above don’t even begin to scratch the surface of the potential possibilities of AI lending its hand to cybersecurity, it is, however, worth mentioning that there are some downsides and limitations that prevent AI from going mainstream.

If an AI system is to be built and maintained, it would necessitate immense amounts of data, memory, computing power, and other resources. Also, due to the way in which AI systems are taught through learning data sets, it can take an incredibly long time, and at a fairly substantial cost, to source all of the malware codes, non-malicious codes, anomalies, and other data sets required.

One other negative point to consider is that hackers will also use AI themselves to test, improve, and enhance their malware with a view to it essentially becoming AI-proof. AI-proof malware can, as a result, be incredibly destructive as they learn from existing AI tools to develop more advanced attacks and easily get through both more traditional cybersecurity systems and even AI-boosted cybersecurity systems.

And one last thing to consider if you are a merchant and you are worried about data breaches affecting your bottom line: Host Merchant Services Data Breach Security Program. Click that link to download a PDF explaining the value-added service HMS provides its merchants that goes above and beyond just simple PCI Compliance and helps ensure a merchant’s peace of mind.

Citizens Bank Partners with Microsoft for Xbox All Access

With 2020 looking to be the year that all the next generation games consoles will begin to hit the market, it won’t come as a surprise to learn that many eager consumers are starting to put money aside. For many, a lack of immediately available funds will direct attention to credit, but this past week, Citizens Bank has released details of a brand-new funding option for consumers ready to buy new Microsoft products.

Xbox All Access Program

Citizens Bank and Microsoft have joined forces to provide financing for the Xbox All Access program, offering consumers the choice of Xbox One X, Xbox One S, or the Xbox One S All-Digital Edition console bundles paired with a 24 month subscription of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. This gives customers access to more than 100 games and online multiplayer via Xbox Live Gold. In addition, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate features multiple new Xbox exclusives, with new content added constantly, along with reliable and fast online multiplayer gaming. This will be predominantly available via Amazon, and will have a complete point-of-sale experience as well as 0% APR financing.

For the time being, the program is limited to just the current generation of Xbox consoles. Consumers who do pick up a current-generation Xbox through the Xbox All Access Program, however, will be eligible for an upgrade once what is currently only known as Project Scarlett launches, presumably next year.
Citizens Bank president of consumer deposits and lending Brendan Coughlin, said about the integrated payment solution, “Consumers want affordable ways to make purchases without taking on additional credit card debt. Xbox All Access bundles hardware, services and software with affordable and predictable financing delivered through Amazon’s online check out process. Xbox All Access represents the first time a lender, manufacturer and retailer have come together to offer a seamless way for consumers to buy, and we believe that it will be the model for how purchases are made and financed in the future.”

Looking Toward the Future

While it may not seem right now that this type of payment solution will send Xbox sales soaring, it’s worth remembering that Microsoft have very definitively lost this generation of the console wars, so this could be a cunning plan for the next generation. By offering potential future customers an easy way to pick up a console now while holding their place in line for the next console, Microsoft seems to be hoping to snatch away a few Sony supporters ahead of the game. Also, with each new console generation, or any new generation of any technology, supply issues tend to be a bit of an issue in the early days. This has by no means been confirmed by Microsoft, but perhaps those who buy under the Xbox All Access program will have priority access to Project Scarlett when it releases.

Early in 2019, Microsoft announced it was ending its mobile payments solution Microsoft Wallet. Support for the mobile payments app ended in February 2019 less than a year after Microsoft announced it integrated Microsoft Pay with Masterpass which allowed users to use the Edge browser to make online purchases with retailers who accepted Masterpass. The decision was inevitable since Microsoft Pay had a low user rate and the company discontinued support for its Windows 10 Mobile operating system which had just 2.4% of the market share of US mobile operating systems.

Online Retail Fraud on the Rise

According to the 2019 Fraud Attack Index by e-commerce security company Forter, attempts at defrauding online retailers have, for the second year consecutively, increased with online electronics and food and beverage retailers seeing the biggest hits.

After going through merchant and transaction data, Forter determined the rate at which e-commerce fraud attacks occur has increased between 2017 and 2018 over several different verticals.

Electronics

Fraud targeted at electronics retailers shot up by a huge 73% in 2018 compared to the year before. Electronic devices often come with hefty price tags, and they can be easily resold, making them so appealing to fraudsters. Forter’s analysis showed that customers are more than prepared to purchase their electronic goods from third-party sites in order to score a better deal, and many fraudsters will list their stolen items as “refurbished” items.

Food and Beverage

Fraudulent attacks against food and beverage companies saw an even bigger increase between 2017 and 2018 with a 79% increase in attacks. This comes following a 60% increase between 2016 and 2017. Forter’s analysis suggests that lower-priced online food and beverage items will be where fraudsters typically test out stolen cards or e-wallets, before then going onto more expensive higher-ticket items.

Clothing

Fraud attempts in the online clothing world rose by 47% between 2017 and 2018. Clothing has always been an appealing and attractive option to criminals, with bulk items being resold with relative ease. Much as was the case with electronic items, many legitimate buyers will be eager to purchase their clothing from third-party resale sites.

Bots can also be used by fraudsters to buy up large quantities of any limited edition clothing runs which they’ll then sell on with substantial mark-ups.

Jewelery and Luxury Items

It goes without saying that criminals have always been attracted to the high value of jewelry. 2018 saw a 19% year-on-year increase in attacks towards online sellers of jewelry and other luxury items.

The security company Forter’s study looked into many often undertaken means by which fraudulent attacks are typically launched upon online retailers. Account takeovers, whereby criminals will unlawfully gain access to an unsuspecting customer’s account with the aim to make illegal purchases, or even redeem loyalty points, grew by 45% in 2018 when compared to 2017. Fraudulent attacks coming from fraud rings, or even online criminals grouping together to commit fraud together grew by 26% year-on-year.

What saw the sharpest increase was policy abuse, which entails cheating retailers through discount codes and coupons, creating multiple accounts, or overusing referral reward programs. This saw an increase of a whopping 170%, whereas stricter e-commerce returns policies saw the more historically traditional fraudulent returns abuse drop by a huge 90%.

As of 2019, these are the 10 U.S. states with the highest rates of identity theft and fraud:

1. District of Columbia
2. California
3. Nevada
4. New Hampshire
5. South Carolina
6. Delaware
7. Louisiana
8. Texas
9. New York
10. Florida

And one last thing to consider if you are a merchant and you are worried about data breaches or fraud affecting your bottom line: Host Merchant Services Data Breach Security Program. Click that link to download a PDF explaining the value-added service HMS provides its merchants that goes above and beyond just simple PCI Compliance and helps ensure a merchant’s peace of mind.

5G Communications Could Change the American Retail Landscape [2023 Update]

In terms of telecommunications and payment transactions, the United States is strangely out of step with the rest of the world in some aspects. Paper checks, for example, are still used by many companies. The adoption of EMV technology by American retailers was slow enough to cause anxiety among providers of payment processing services. As for the fifth generation of wireless technology, commonly known as 5G, South Korea and China are examples of significant markets that rolled out 5G networks way ahead of the U.S.

How 5G Will Impact Brick-and-Mortar Stores

In major metropolitan areas such as Atlanta, wireless service providers have already upgraded their infrastructure to 5G. Widespread upgrades to 5G technology will take place over the next few years, and retailers have everything to gain from this development. In essence, 5G networks are able to handle vast amounts of data at much higher speeds; while it is easy to see how e-commerce operations can benefit from this technology, it is important to note that brick-and-mortar retailers will also be able to capitalize on this upgrade.

Retail storefronts do not have to compete against e-commerce because they can simply embrace it. With the advent of 5G, however, brick-and-mortar stores can give their e-commerce counterparts a run for their money through interactive experiences. Augmented reality features, for example, can let shoppers get more information about products on shelves, and they can also enable trying on clothes and putting on makeup prior to going into dressing rooms or approaching the cosmetics counter.

A more practical benefit of 5G technology as it relates to physical stores will be found at the point-of-sale. Payments industry analysts believe that 5G is the missing ingredient in the perfect recipe of true mobile payments, and this is something that merchant processing companies also believe will result in a digital payments revolution. That current lag experienced by shoppers who wish to pay with their smartphones at POS terminals should go away once 5G is implemented.

Mobile Shopping Trends

The use of digital wallets and other devices that enable contactless payments has been on the rise across Asia and Europe. In China, nearly 50% of retail purchase transactions are settled with digital wallets; in the U.S. only 23% as of July 2019. Another improvement that retailers can expect from 5G technology is to mobile equipment; brick-and-mortar stores that do not offer this option should start looking into ways of implementing it between now and the end of 2020.

The next major retail trend in the U.S. is expected to be a hybrid of mobile shopping and in-store pickups. A neighborhood pizzeria that offers takeout should strongly consider developing a native or progressive web app that enables mobile ordering and payments because this is what many consumers are showing a preference for: they want to browse menus, select toppings, and pay for their orders right from their smartphones, but they also want to be able to stop by the stores and physically retrieve their purchases.

Stripe Funding Round Values Company at $35 Billion

Digital payment processing startup Stripe Inc said in a press release it raised $250 million in its latest funding round, bringing its pre-money value to $35 billion, which is more than a 50% increase to its valuation at the beginning of the year.

After raising $100 million from Tiger Global Management in a Series E round in January, Stripe had a $22.5 billion valuation. With investors like Andreeson Horowitz, General Catalyst, and Sequoia Capital, Stripe’s valuation puts it on the same level as Airbnb Inc, which announced it was going public in 2020.

Stripe Looking to Expand Global Reach

Stripe provides software that allows companies to send and receive online payments. Processing billions of dollars a year for businesses, including Airbnb, Wayfair, Twilio, a cloud tech company, and The RealReal, a luxury online reseller, among millions of other businesses around the globe, Stripe is a high tech credit card processing company.

Stripe will use its newly raised funds to broaden its product offerings. With five out of six new e-commerce merchants joining online from parts of the world beyond North America and Western Europe, Stripe will also expand its footprint overseas. Recently launching in eight additional countries, Stripe plans to expand to a total of 40 countries or 70% of the global economy in 2020.

The New Stripe Corporate Card

Piggybacking on the company’s launch earlier in September of Stripe Capital, Stripe also introduced a corporate credit card for e-commerce companies, which Stripe claims will cut the application time while also featuring digital tools.

Providing companies the ability to set spending limits, as well as block specific spending categories, the Stripe Corporate Card also allows cardholders to report expenses in real time, eliminating the manual process of expense reporting. With no fees, the card gives businesses 2% cashback on the two top spending categories every month.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Stripe Capital?

Stripe’s lending product Stripe Capital allows small businesses to skip the lengthy application process to borrow money, freeing startups and small businesses to access capital when banks have decreased their lending to small businesses almost by half in the past ten years.

With less than eight percent of commerce taking place online, merchant services like Stripe can only grow. With quarterly e-commerce retail sales doubling since the start of 2014 according to the Commerce Department, it is still only 11% of the total retail sales in the quarter with nowhere to go but up.

While also handling in-store payments for customers, Stripe allows businesses to add the Stripe widget to their website, instantly creating a payment button for online customers. Worth 30% more than its online payment counterpart, Square, Stripe is evolving at a rapid pace, not only in the payment processing world but also in its expansion into business lending and corporate credit cards. With big clients like Wayfair, Stripe hopes to tap into the projected 12% annual growth for e-commerce.

What is Stripe?

Stripe is a financial technology company that provides software and APIs for businesses to accept online payments. It was founded in 2010 by Patrick and John Collison and is headquartered in San Francisco, California.

How much money did Stripe raise in its latest funding round?

Stripe raised $250 million in its latest funding round, which values the company at $35 billion. The round was led by Sequoia Capital, with participation from Andreessen Horowitz, General Catalyst, and other investors.

What will Stripe use the money from its latest funding round for?

Stripe plans to use the money from its latest funding round to expand its product suite, grow its international presence, and hire more employees. The company also plans to invest in new technologies, such as blockchain and cryptocurrency.

What is the significance of Stripe’s latest funding round?

Stripe’s latest funding round is a significant milestone for the company. It is the largest funding round ever raised by a privately held fintech company, and it values Stripe at a higher price than many publicly traded companies. The round also demonstrates strong investor confidence in Stripe’s business model and growth potential.

What are the implications of Stripe’s latest funding round for the payments industry?

Stripe’s latest funding round is a sign of the growing importance of online payments. The company’s success is a testament to the demand for simple, reliable, and affordable payment solutions. Stripe’s growth is also likely to accelerate the adoption of online payments by businesses of all sizes.

What are the next steps for Stripe?

Stripe is well-positioned for continued growth in the years to come. The company has a strong product suite, a large and growing customer base, and a deep pool of talent. Stripe is also well-funded, with over $1 billion in cash on hand. This gives the company the resources it needs to expand its product suite, grow its international presence, and hire more employees. Stripe is also likely to continue to invest in new technologies, such as blockchain and cryptocurrency.

Twitter CEO Backs Cryptocurrency Startup

The Wall Street Journal has been reporting this week that CEO of both Twitter and payment processing company Square, and longtime advocate of Bitcoin, Jack Dorsey has been a prominent investor in the two-year-old company CoinList during their Polychain Capital-led $10 million funding round.

What is CoinList?

CoinList was founded in San Francisco two years ago in 2017 with the aim of helping startup companies raise capital through the sale of cryptocurrency. They made waves almost out the gate during the cryptocurrency boom in ICOs (initial coin offerings) when tokens were exchanged for the money the companies were raising. With the roller coaster-like sudden rise and fall in Bitcoin, the market for ICOs blew up with it before it then bombed.

As the CEO of payments company Square, Dorsey has had Bitcoin of his own for some time, and has often advocated the positives of the cryptocurrency. Square recently announced that they will be introducing a new cryptocurrency service of their own called Square Crypto, as they also revealed that in the second quarter of 2019 alone they generated as much as $125 million in Bitcoin revenue.

The Future of Bitcoin

Despite being a fond advocate of Bitcoin, Dorsey said recently to the Australian Financial Review “[Bitcoin is] not functional as a currency. The peaks and troughs are like an investment asset and are equivalent to gold. What we need to do is make it more usable and accessible as a currency, but it’s not there yet.”

He did add, however, that he thinks Bitcoin can and will eventually grow and become more widely adopted by the online community by saying, “I think [Bitcoin is] the best because it’s been the most resilient, it’s around for 10 years, it has a great brand and it’s been tested a bunch. As I look at all cryptocurrencies that could fill that role of being the native currency for the internet, [bitcoin is] a pretty high probability.”

CoinList will aid new startups in raising money through token sales, and will then use that cash to build a new exchange platform they’re calling CoinList Trade. Along with CoinList Trade, they’ll also set up a cryptocurrency wallet, according to the Wall Street Journal.