PumaPay[1] is building a Blockchain-based protocol to reform how everyday financial transactions are completed – with a warning that credit and debit cards are unfit for purpose in today’s “fast-paced, global economy.”
PumaPay claims its system has what it takes to propel cryptocurrencies into mainstream use and rethink how payments are processed. It is developing an open-source “PullPayment Protocol” which enables merchants to pull funds out of a customer’s account with their consent. This would replace old-fashioned methods where a shopper pushes money to a retailer, with the cash going through a long line of intermediaries in a costly process that can take days to complete.
According to PumaPay, its invention is “far more credible, efficient, cost-effective and scalable” than current solutions – and offers much-needed flexibility to make cryptocurrencies viable[2] as a source of payment both online and offline.
Serving merchants, not exploiting them
According to PumaPay, it is merchants who lose out most through the economy’s “anachronistic” reliance on card payments which dominate online shopping sites.
The project says retailers and small businesses face multiple fees, ranging anywhere from 2 percent to 8 percent in some cases. Not only do these charges take a serious toll on a merchant’s profit margins, but PumaPay says long transaction reconciliation times have a detrimental impact on cash flow. Chargebacks are also becoming more common because of fraud and buyer’s remorse, resulting in fines and insecurity – with merchants continually uncertain over whether the money from a sale will reach their bank account.
Despite cryptocurrency and Blockchain representing an exciting development over the past decade, PumaPay argues that none of the currently available crypto-payment solutions are functional enough to compete with big players such as Visa and Mastercard.
PumaPay says it plans to “serve merchants,
