Simplex Brings Credit Card Crypto Purchases to BitPay

Users of BitPay’s mobile app can now do more than merely move their crypto around – they can swap it for fiat and vice-versa. Thanks to an integration with Simplex, BitPay has gained credit card functionality, providing a valuable bridge between the fiat and crypto worlds.

As the leading crypto payment processor, BitPay holds considerable sway over the industry. More than 30,000 merchants utilize its services to accept crypto payments, resulting in the Georgia-based firm processing over $1 billion in transactions annually. What BitPay has done for crypto payments, Simplex has done for credit card payments within the blockchain sector. The Tel Aviv-headquartered fintech firm has become a conduit for significant fiat flows into crypto exchanges and coin swap services. Binance, Bitcoin.com, KuCoin, and Bithumb are among the many companies to have added credit card support via Simplex.

An all-in-one solution

Of the many deals Simplex has inked with crypto companies, the BitPay partnership might be the most valuable yet, transforming the BitPay app into a complete fiat-crypto swapping service. BTC and other cryptocurrencies can be purchased using Simplex’s fraud-proof credit card service, which slots seamlessly into the BitPay app. In addition to Bitcoin, the BitPay wallet currently supports Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, and XRP. BitPay also offers BTC and BCH to fiat conversion in-app for spending on the BitPay Visa card.

There’s long been a logjam when it comes to getting money in and out of the cryptoconomy. Banks and credit card issuers are wary to deal with crypto businesses and of being seen to abet customers purchasing ‘risky’ digital assets whose irreversibility prevents the possibility for chargebacks. Exchanges, in turn, don’t want to be on the hook for fraudulent transactions, should criminals use stolen credit cards to purchase cryptos on-exchange.

The solution to this problem has proven to be one of specialization: crypto exchanges and wallet focus on doing what they do best, leaving the fiat side of things to companies with expertise in this domain. In Simplex’s case, this has meant offering a fraud-free payment processing service that enables businesses to accept credit cards without the risk of chargebacks.

Breaking down the barriers to adoption

One of the greatest challenges faced by the crypto industry is boosting mainstream adoption. This means improving UX and eliminating hurdles that can deter newcomers from entering the cryptosphere. User experience has been described as crypto’s ‘killer app,’ and seamless integration of fiat-crypto swaps goes a long way towards realizing this.

“Cryptocurrency exchanges can be intimidating for new users,” acknowledged BitPay CEO and co-founder Stephen Pair. “The Simplex integration, however, makes the blockchain payment experience seamless.” 

Simplex founder and CEO Nimrod Lehavi concurred, adding “A real breakthrough in usability can only be achieved when the leading crypto payment app meets the leader in fiat infrastructure for crypto.” From non-custodial wallets that eliminate the need to store private keys to credit card integration into mobile apps, the barriers to broader crypto adoption are slowly being broken down.