Category: Crypto Exchange

Yesterday, the crypto exchange platform Huobi integrated the fiat-to-crypto payment service Banxa to its trading platform with zero fees and integrated it into the payment system for customers from Australia, the UK, and the European Union.

The announcement came in the wake of the partnership formed with digital banking infrastructure provider Banxa – a company with headquarters in Melbourne and Amsterdam.

Huobi has been a mid-range player on the crypto exchange market ever since it opened in 2013. Although the company is from Singapore, the Huobi main offices were originally located in Beijing, as the company focused mostly on the Chinese market.

With the implementation of POLi for Aussie customers, SEPA for the EU, and the Faster Payments service for the UK, Huobi hopes to use the momentum to expand its business in the USA with a better payment system next July.

No Fees For Buying Crypto

Offering a total of 305 crypto assets – including its own proprietary asset Huobi Token – Huobi makes a point of offering all the major cryptocurrencies, and then some. The trading platform also offers crypto saving products. The interest rates received on Bitcoin and USDT savings accounts are considerably more profitable than those offered by many traditional banks.

Users from Australia and Europe can now purchase up to AUD 28.265 in AUD, GBP, or EUR to begin trading. Funds can be added to a user’s account using bank transfers, debit or credit cards, as well as other common payment methods with zero fees.

After passing the one-time KYC (Know Your Customer) verification – which requires customers to upload a picture of their passport, ID card, or driver’s license – Aussie customers are free to trade on the platform with the third-largest trading volume worldwide.

Flexepin – a subdivision of Australian payment processor Novatti – has joined forces with FastBitcoins this Thursday.

The partnership between the ASX-listed Australian fintech company that specializes in prepaid vouchers and gift cards and the UK cryptocurrency vendor will allow Bitcoins to be sold in over 20,000 physical locations across Australia, Europe, Canada, and Africa.

Offering Alternative Payment Methods

Flexepin caters to users who want to make online payments without using credit or debit cards. But in addition to improving the security and privacy of online spending, Flexepin was developed to help many as many people as possible worldwide to purchase goods and services, using an alternate method of payment.

In areas where banks have formed monopolies and offer less than ideal terms of service to account holders, any alternative form of payment helps.

Although many payment providers are reluctant to accept vouchers and gift cards as payment, Flexepin and Novatti maintain that the vast majority of transactions carried out via vouchers are perfectly legitimate and do not pose a significant money laundering risk.

 In the past, people would use mobile minutes and messages as an ad-hoc way to send small amounts of money. Although this method of payment has become obsolete once the majority of people switched to subscription plans – which are getting cheaper every year – public transit networks worldwide often allow passengers to pay tickets via SMS.

Asked for comment, FastBicoins CEO Danny Brewster, expressed excitement at the prospect of opening up a vast budding market to cryptocurrencies.

“The big one for me, personally, is we can accept mobile money payments in 14 countries in Africa,” said FastBitcoins CEO Danny Brewster. “So, users in places like Kenya or Uganda can use M-Pesa or MTN Pay on their mobile phone to buy a Flexepin voucher which is then redeemed for Bitcoin via us. We charge only 4.5%. The best price equivalent on, say, Paxful, charges 40%. That’s all through this Flexepin deal.”

With a budding economic sector eager to invest in digital gold, the partnership between Paxful and Flexepin should show results before long.