BIPS enables Bigcommerce's 40,000+ merchants to accept bitcoin

Payment platform BIPS has announced support for the ecommerce cart platform Bigcommerce, which is used by over 40,000 merchants across the globe.

The new development means businesses can sidestep credit card transaction fees by using the easy, private and cost effective payment solution that is bitcoin.

Kris Henriksen, CEO at BIPS, believes that passionate bitcoin enthusiasts will use the Bigcommerce integration to further expand the BTC economy.

“Our company mission is to provide a comprehensive carrier-grade technical platform that enables our merchants to receive cryptocurrencies as payments for their products and services online,” he said.

Merchants can use BIPS’ system for accepting bitcoin payments by inputting an API key into their Bigcommerce configuration settings. Then the business can customize certain elements, such as the bitcoin payment icon that appears via their BIPS account. The complete instructions are located on the BIPS helpdesk resource.

BIPS' bitcoin support for Bigcommerce is now up and running, but it is not actually officially sanctioned by the ecommerce cart platform. “We don't officially support bitcoin at this time. Please vote for this on our ideas site,” a company rep tweeted in response to a query from CoinDesk.

Travis Skweres, CEO of the cryptocurrency exchange CoinMKT, believes that continued adoption akin to the BIPS integration will lead bitcoin to become a major payment method someday in the future. “With 40,000 new merchants able to accept bitcoin and consumers having more options than ever, bitcoin is finally becoming the world currency we know it can be.”

Utilizing bitcoin over traditional ecommerce payments such as credit cards also opens up the opportunity for merchants to think about different products or services and various payment methods.

Ankur Nandwani, lead developer behind the BitMonet BTC microtransactions payment system, believes integrations like that now offered by BIPS could entice merchants to sell digital items for small fees. “I think it would be really interesting to see if that happens. I can see that happening for [things like] virtual goods," he said.

As for Henriksen, he believes bitcoin is a system of payment exchange that is much more fail-safe than credit cards and he hopes merchants will soon come to realize this too.

“The infrastructure, p2p money, and no central authority to keep this 'system' up and running, means no single point of failure,” he explained.

Other payment processors are building integrations with ecommerce platforms too – BitPay, which has over 10,000 active merchants currently accepting bitcoin, has 14 plugins available for different ecommerce and content management system (CMS) platforms. Henriksen realises he faces strong competition from BitPay, but believes BIPS' product is his company's major advantage, having undergone three years of development.

What do you think about bitcoin payment processing platforms? If merchants accept bitcoin as a method of payment, will customers actually use it? Let us know in the comments.

Featured Image Source: BIPS