OneBit app that enables payments at any credit card accepting merchant via NFC with no fees has entered its alpha stage.

Exactly as Toby Hoenisch, OneBit CEO, promised in an earlier CoinFox interview, the beta version of the bitcoin wallet app has been launched before 28 July. OneBit converts bitcoin to the local currency in real time and pays the merchant via their NFC (Near Field Communication) payment terminals. The wallet allows users to pay in bitcoin only and does not offer an option to withdraw cash. The start-up plans to apply AML and KYC policies to wallet users.

The website states that there are no extra or hidden fees and that a market rate conversion is in use. The OneBit's business model is based on merchants' fees to their banks:

“We will take part in the interchange fees that the merchant pays his acquiring bank. Those interchange fees are the reason there are so many miles and points and cashback cards,” Hoenisch explained on Reddit.

“For the merchant it's just a creditcard payment. He doesn't need to know anything about bitcoin,” he added.

The project was developed at the MasterCard Hackathon and took part in the selection stage of Startupbootcamp FinTech, a fintech accelerator in Singapore. The NFC payment system is fundamental to the project, determining the start-up’s choice of the Android platform as well as geographical preferences. As Hoenisch revealed earlier to CoinFox, OneBit is also looking into Loop Pay as an effective way of taking bitcoin payments mainstream.

Aliona Chapel