Bitcoin recently chatted with Christoph Hering of Blockpay. Hering is an entrepreneur and the co-founder of Bitshares Munich. He shares with us his vision for Blockpay a new Point of Sale platform that allows merchants to accept a wide variety of cryptocurrencies at zero cost. The system will also have other features such as loyalty points that may entice people to use cryptocurrency for everyday transactions.
Bitcoin (BC): Can you tell our readers what BlockPay is?
Christoph Hering (CH): BlockPay enables merchants to accept one or more digital currencies at zero cost. It’s an easy, fast and cost-efficient Point-of-Sale system that supports all of the most popular digital currencies (like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dash, Steem, Smartcoins (bitUSD, bitCNY, bitEUR, bitSilver), etc.) plus loyalty points and gift rewards cards. It is solving the security and business risks through modern Blockchain technology and helps businesses around the world to accept these digital payments at zero cost.
BlockPay is a great tool for Bitcoin and crypto users too because it gives them the chance to use their desired coins in any store, vending machine, restaurant or another merchant around the world. Wait no more to pay your coffee with crypto fast, cheap and (soon) in total anonymity. BlockPay has already added an extra layer of privacy for Bitcoin users, mixed, crosschain and super fast.
BlockPay is available as a free Standalone app, or Integrated (ie: Odoo, SAP, etc.) with merchants’ existing Point-of-Sale systems and working globally in 44 languages.
BlockPay is uniting all of the Blockchain communities and gives crypto users the unique chance to even use exotic currencies like Dogecoin in their daily life.
BC: Do you think BlockPay could help streamline cryptocurrencies together with merchant solutions?
CH: BlockPay is the first Point-of-Sale system in the world that supports all of the leading digital currencies in one simple business solution. We are very confident that BlockPay will streamline cryptocurrencies with merchant solutions because we solved most of the merchant’s burning pains like fraud, fees, coin volatility, choosing the right coin, exchanges getting hacked, and chargebacks from the start.
- BlockPay does not charge fees to the merchant, it´s free. Period;
- BlockPay solves fraud, chargebacks, rolling reserves, and coin volatility;
- BlockPay reduces transactions to 3 sec or less, even Bitcoin and altcoins in 3-15 seconds!
- BlockPay manages multiple cryptocurrencies, and new currencies like DigixDGD are made available to merchants automatically;
- BlockPay API is being integrated into multiple different Point-of-Sale platforms reaching millions at the OEM level.
We learned that most merchants do not care if their customer uses Litecoin, Peercoin, Bitcoin or Dash…and they have no time to learn about them either. They just want to get paid fast, efficient and with the lowest fees possible – Simply BlockPay.
BC: How does BlockPay support cryptocurrency payments with zero cost?
CH: We thought about the best strategy how we could promote a new Blockchain-based Point-of-Sale solution to regular businesses without being the 10th guy asking to integrate. Access to the payment systems is like an open heart operation, complicated and death serious. That is why we decided to offer BlockPay at zero cost to merchants.
With this new approach, we have had great success getting the “first foot in the door” and signing up new business partners on a weekly basis. We eliminated all merchant fees and charged a small flat network fee of 0.5% to the consumer instead.
That BlockPay fee works like a mining fee that covers software updates, future Integrations and development of more cryptocurrencies with BlockPay. We also work close with our business partners so that they pay it forward and provide specific cash back, special discounts and other bonus plans to digital currency users. Some might think charging the customer is unfair, but how much are you willing to pay so that you can use your favorite coin at McDonalds, Starbucks or Walmart?
BC: How does the platform work with Loyalty Points?
CH: BlockPay is connected to the decentralized digital asset exchange Bitshares, which allows us to generate loyalty point systems on the fly. We offer our business partners enterprise grade loyalty systems, for generating, distributing and managing bonus points, gift cards and coupon codes across several platforms.
The beautiful thing is that every digital currency user can earn loyalty points when he purchases items at a BlockPay enabled merchant. You buy your groceries in bitcoin, and BlockPay sends you bonus points back, all documented with the BlockPay eReceipts.
Together with our BlockPay Ambassadors, we have developed guidelines and learning materials for our business partners, teaching them how to set up their own loyalty points programs, show them how to generate coupon codes and how to offer blockchain based gift cards. Since they are all digital tokens, managed by a Blockchain wallet, all benefits of the Blockchain apply for these points too.
In conclusion, BlockPay provides a full-service PoS solution that rewards crypto users to pay digital and give merchants the right tools to reward their most loyal customers for free.
BC: Can you tell our readers about the Echo wallet?
CH: Echo is a next generation social messenger, with peer-to-peer encrypted messaging; completely decentralizing all of your messaging, audio/video conversations, and wallet operations through IPFS and the Graphene Blockchain to protect your data and privacy. Echo is a powerful WhatsApp/Wechat and Paypal hybrid that will change the way how we all use digital currencies forever.
What is even more exciting about Echo is the marketing strategy. Following the success of Wechat and Steem, Echo will be a powerful social messenger for the non-Blockchain mainstream. We are cutting out all confusing Blockchain aspects starting with a fresh new interface, easy payments, and a simple automated Brainkey backup mechanism.
With Echo, all private keys are stored locally, and the user has the total control over his funds. Combined with encrypted and decentralized chat messages, Echo is a great tool to protect your privacy and financial freedom.
[W]ith Steem we just saw the beginning of a full new set of Blockchain-based applications for the regular user. Echo will be setting the new standard in communications.
BC: What will the pre-ICO entail?
CH: The public sale began on August 23rd, with a special pre-sale period starting on August 20th. Details and pricing are as follows.
- An initial 3-day phase of this Pre-ICO will allow OPENPOS token holders to exchange their tokens for BlockPay tokens 1 to 1.20. BitShares Munich held a successful fundraiser in late 2015 for another cryptocurrency (OPENPOS), eventually integrated with Odoo, an open-source POS system used in over 50,000 businesses in Europe and Asia.
- After this phase, up to 1.4 million BlockPay tokens will be available at .000288 BTC per token (approximately $X at the time of writing).
- After this, another 3 million BlockPay tokens will be available at .000360 BTC per token (approximately $.X at the time of writing).
- After this, the price for BlockPay tokens during the official ICO (to be scheduled) will be .0005 BTC per token.
Interested parties can participate at BlockPay.ch or on CCEDK.com after August 23rd. This final price implies a market capitalization of all BlockPay tokens at approximately $30 million.
BC: How will you allocate the crowdfunding funds?
CH: We are using most of the funds for further development, marketing, and legal costs. We have finished multiple mobile Wallets, BlockPay “S,” BlockPay for Odoo, and getting ready to launch. The next steps are adding new features, currencies, a public API, a iOS version and much more.
The Pre-ICO crowdfunding funds are securing the operation for the next 24 months and allow us to score major business partnerships with leading POS software providers, OEM, and merchants.
- Launch of BlockPay “S” in Google Play and BlockPay for Odoo
- Additional BlockPay integrations into leading Point Of Sale systems
- Development of BlockPay open API
- Adding more Fiat Gateways, Exchanges and Escrow Services
- Development and introduction of Stealth transfers
- Development and launch of ECHO for Android and iOS
- Development of native iOS BlockPay “S”
- Adding new features to BlockPay and ECHO
- Building Digital Payment Infrastructure for the Future
BC: Can you explain how you are working with CCEDK?
CH: CCEDK provides great ICO services for Blockchain companies like us. We were looking into all the technical details, marketing strategies, cold storage, etc. and decided that we need an experienced partner for a successful Crowdfunding. CCEDK is the best partner for us since they offer an all-in-one campaign and crowdfunding kit, whatever their needs – including escrow services, fiat gateway, token and asset creation and issuance, distribution, integration, marketing, pre-launch preparation and the ICO itself.
In conclusion, BlockPay is delivering all the content, logos and vision, and CCEDK is handling the entire ICO. ICO´s will establish themselves as the new Crowdfunding standards… and if you think about it, raising six figures from a global crowd is completely unheard of for regular startups who sell 20-40% equity for the same deal.
BC: What’s the overall mission with BlockPay?
CH: BlockPay is now rolling out the digital payment infrastructure of the future. It is our mission to simplify mobile payments by magnitudes, save time with peer-to-peer payments, and reduce or eliminate all fees.
Businesses around the world can now open a Blockchain account in 3 seconds or less, install the free app or module, advertise BlockPay and start accepting one or more digital currencies at zero cost. Faster and safer than cash, it’s another path to profits.
At BlockPay, our vision is to use digital currencies and assets in our everyday lives. Our business idea supports this vision by offering a wide range of simple and secure tools that allow us to manage our new digital money even simpler than cash. Together we can build a more secure, more private and more efficient financial system for our next generation of digital money.
Christoph Hering is the CEO and co-founder of BlockPay. The Munich-based fintech company is associated with Bitshares technology and the Danish-based cryptocurrency exchange CCEDK. Hering is also an organizer for the Entrepreneurship Mastermind Group (EMMG) which has monthly meetups in the centre of Munich. Thank you for speaking with us Christoph and giving our readers a glimpse of your new project.