How To Pay With Bitcoin Using Your Apple Wallet
In yet another sign of the growing importance of digital payments - and the versatility of digital wallets - Apple Pay has joined the long list of financial service providers offering Bitcoin as a payment method, via the BitPay debit card. You can use BitPay with any device that's compatible with Apple Pay such as an iPad or Apple Watch.
In February 2021, the Bitcoin and cryptocurrency payment provider BitPay announced that cardholders in the US can now add their BitPay prepaid Mastercard to their iPhone’s Apple Wallet. This means, wherever Mastercard is accepted by vendors, they can be paid using the cryptocurrency service as easily as any other payment provider.
But what is BitPay? The BitPay service allows users to convert a range of cryptocurrencies into standard currency and put them on their Mastercard. Four dollar-pegged stablecoins (USDC, BUSD, PAX, and GUSD) are supported, alongside the more well-known cryptocurrencies Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash and Ether.
This news follows the announcement in October 2020 by PayPal stating that their users can buy, sell and hold cryptocurrency, as well as paying for goods and service using these digital coins. And in early February, Mastercard also revealed they will begin to accept certain cryptocurrencies on its network later this year. BitPay has suggested that they’ll be expanding this support onto other digital payment systems in 2021, including both Google Pay and Samsung Pay.
The covid pandemic of 2020 saw consumer use of mobile wallets rise at a dramatic rate, as both users and retailers realise that not only do they allow for safe, speedy purchases - removing the risk of virus-tainted cash - but also allow for increased engagement and unobtrusive marketing techniques, such as loyalty schemes and bonuses based on the user’s location.
This increased adoption mirrored the rise in popularity of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies over the course of 2020, as people and financial institutions increased their crypto holdings for largely investment reasons.
What’s clear is that the digital and financial worlds are combining at a fast rate, with some of the world’s biggest financial institutions finally realising the benefits and popularity of both digital wallets and cryptocurrency. Escalated by the events of 2020, mobile wallets are now becoming the norm with enormous benefits to both the consumer and retailer.