6. February 2023
Paying cashless with cash – Bitcoin for the retail trade
Innovation in cashless payments for retail and gastronomy
In today’s world, businesses in the hospitality and retail sectors face many challenges when it comes to cashless payments. Whether it’s capturing data securely or finding the right compromise between convenience, security and fees, there are many factors to consider. To find solutions to these challenges, innovation expert Peter Rochel talks to Bastian Feder, founder of Lightning Payment Services AG and creator of Lipa, a Bitcoin-based technology for cashless cash, in this podcast episode. In this post, we will look at the key issues covered in the episode, including: Data collection and security, customer benefit vs. merchant benefit, convenience vs. security vs. fees, the need for Bitcoin, the implementation of new payment systems and the field test of BTC22. Read on to learn why businesses are doing away with cash and why a new payment service offering like Lipa is needed, or listen to the episode right here:
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You can also listen to this episode here on the website:
Here you will find all the chapters of this episode with a time stamp:
00:00:00 Teaser
00:00:56 Reactions and notes on chapter markers
00:04:29 Intro
00:09:30 Margin killer in payment traffic
00:12:10 Lightning-Rail in payment traffic
00:23:42 Cashless for all
00:26:19 No chargeback risk
00:35:47 3000 Payments in 36h
00:38:30 BTC in Euro out
00:41:03 Data security
00:49:11 Implementing Lipa in the company
00:56:19 The Business Model
01:00:15 Using LIPA in the company
01:04:51 Investing in Lipa
01:07:15 Advice to the younger me
01:10:13 Bitcoin for business
01:13:05 Get Out
Customer benefit vs. trader benefit – Who has what problem and what benefit?
As an entrepreneur, it is important to keep in mind the needs of your customers as well as those of your business. It is a tightrope walk to optimise both at the same time. On the one hand, you want to offer your customers the easiest and most convenient payment process possible, but on the other hand, you also want to make sure that payments are secure and free of charge for your business.
Lipa offers a solution that benefits both customers and traders. By using Bitcoin-based technology, the payment process can be handled quickly and securely. In addition, there are almost no fees for the merchant, as is the case with some other cashless payment methods.
Another advantage of Lipa is that it offers the customer a higher degree of control and overview over his payments. As Bitcoin is organised in a decentralised way, the customer can manage and monitor his payments himself without a third party being involved.
In summary, Lipa offers a solution that benefits both customers and traders, creating an optimal balance between convenience, security and cost efficiency.
Comfort vs. safety vs. fees
Another important factor when choosing a payment system is the balance between convenience, security and fees. Here it is important to carefully balance the needs of the client and the company.
Lipa offers an excellent balance between these three factors. The payment process is quick and easy, as it is handled via a mobile app. This increases the comfort for the customer. In addition, the use of Bitcoin-based technology offers a high level of security, as the transmission of data is encrypted and organised in a decentralised manner. As there are no fees for the trader, cost efficiency is also guaranteed.
Why bring Bitcoin into play, can’t it be done differently?
Many businesses wonder why use Bitcoin when there are already so many other payment methods. Here are some reasons why Lipa considers the use of Bitcoin as the underlying technology for his payment system to be sensible:
- Decentralised organisation: Bitcoin is a decentrally organised network, which means that no third party is involved. This increases the security and control that customers have over their payments.
- Secure transmission: Data is transmitted without personal data, which provides an additional layer of protection against data misuse and hacker attacks. Another advantage is that companies do not have to stockpile or secure this sensitive customer data and are therefore less interesting for data thieves.
- Low or no fees: Unlike other cashless payment methods, there are no or very low fees for bitcoin payments via the Lightning network. This is particularly advantageous for small businesses that need to keep track of their costs and for payments of very small amounts.
In hospitality and retail, businesses face challenges in cashless payments, such as secure data capture and finding the right compromise between convenience, security and cost efficiency. In this podcast, Bastian Feder, founder of Lightning Payment Services AG, talks about Lipa, a Bitcoin-based technology that offers solutions to these challenges.
The Lightning Network
Introduction
The Lightning Network is an additional layer for blockchain technology, especially for the Bitcoin blockchain. It is a decentralised network that enables users to carry out fast and inexpensive transactions.
How it works
The Lightning Network uses a network of channels that can be set up between users to carry out transactions. These channels are interconnected via a network, allowing users to send transactions directly from one channel to another.
Aims and expectations
The aim of the Lightning Network is to increase the scalability and speed of transactions without increasing costs or slowing down network speeds. The Lightning Network is expected to be an important part of the future blockchain infrastructure.
Advantages
Lightning network technology offers many advantages over existing infrastructures, especially in terms of speed, cost and efficiency.
Use in cashless payment transactions
In cashless payments, the Lightning Network can lead to faster and cheaper transactions. It also offers a higher level of security.
Improvement of existing infrastructures
The Lightning Network can also improve existing infrastructures by speeding up transactions and reducing the load on the main blockchain network.
Resume
Overall, the Lightning Network offers many opportunities to improve the way we deal with money and value, and is expected to become increasingly important in the future.
All episode links:
- Getlipa – click here for the Lipa website
- Bastian on Twitter
- Bastian’s talk on Lipa and dealing with volatility in bitcoin payments, at the BTC22 conference in Innsbruck
- More on bitcoin payments, chargeback risk and more and this podcast episode with Lawrence Bahr from Shopinbit.
- More on the topic of business model innovation through bitcoin payment