Intuit, a California-based software company, has obtained a patent license for its SMS-based Bitcoin payments processing framework.

Details of the Patent License for SMS-based Bitcoin Payments Processing

According to a release published by the United States Patent Office (USPTO) on Tuesday (August 7, 2018), Chikkanna Manu, a native of Bangalore invented the system. Intuit Inc., of Mountain View, California filed the patent application on June 13, 2014.

The system involves a network of virtual accounts that enables people to transfer Bitcoin using text messages. According to the release:

The method includes receiving, by a payment service from a payer mobile device of a payer, a payment text message comprising a payment amount and an identifier of a payee mobile device of a payee, validating the payment text message based at least on a payer balance of a virtual payer account maintained by the payment service for the payer, creating, by a computer processor of the payment service and in response to the payment text message.

The patent license publication also contained a description of numerous ways by which SMS-based payment validation could be achieved. One of the methods involves verification by the payment service that the payer’s balance is sufficient for the transaction.

Intuit is by no means a neophyte in the Bitcoin payment processing arena. In 2014, Intuit rolled out QuickBooks Bitcoin Payments, a BTC transaction processing service for small and medium scale enterprises. The platform enabled such businesses to accept BTC for their products and services.

At the time of writing this article, the company hasn’t released any timetable for the launch of the system.

Telecoms and Cryptocurrency Payments

The trend of integrating cryptocurrency payments with mobile telecoms is something that is becoming popular in the emerging cryptocurrency narrative. Recently, Crypterium, a blockchain-based startup headed by ex-VISA UK CEO, Marc O’Brien, launched a system that allows people to send cryptocurrency using the phone number of the recipient.

Crypterium’s framework allows even the most non-tech savvy person to be able to receive cryptocurrency payment. The recipient doesn’t need a crypto wallet to receive funds sent via the Crypterium framework.

A lot of the happenings at the intersection of mobile telecoms and cryptocurrency is geared towards improving the user-friendliness of cryptocurrency far beyond the realm of the tech-inclined person into the everyday layperson. Also, the mobile telecoms industry has been able to penetrate deep into unbanked territories that might embrace crypto as a viable means of gaining financial inclusion.

What are your thoughts on Intuit’s premise of facilitating Bitcoin transactions via text messages? Let us know your views in the comment section below.

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