Bitcoin payment processor and e-wallet provider Snapcard has announced the launch of its MassPay platform today. This new platform and API will allow businesses to send cross-border payments of all sizes to their users en masse with nothing more than an email address, phone number, or Bitcoin address on file.

MassPay also allows businesses to make these mass payments without having to worry about the volatility risk associated with bitcoin, and the platform could be seen as highly advantageous for a variety of online industries.

How it works

Snapcard has provided Bitcoin Magazine with an internal company brief on how the MassPay system works:

A merchant or business decides it wants to integrate with the MassPay API, and Snapcard credits its account with the company’s local currency. When a user or contractor triggers a payout via the API, the MassPay system is activated and sends a fiat-denominated amount of bitcoin to the recipient via an email, phone number or Bitcoin address. The user or contractor is then notified that a payment has been received and will have the option to keep the bitcoin or withdraw it to his or her local currency for a 0.25 percent fee. The withdrawal process can take anywhere from three hours to three days depending on the country, and the fiat currency will be made available in a user’s bank account in most cases. Converting to fiat is currently available in 26 countries, although Snapcard hopes to expand this functionality to an additional 20-30 countries by the end of the year.

Launching with the Tango Card rewards platform

For the launch of their MassPay system, Snapcard has partnered with Tango Card, which is the largest rewards-as-a-service platform in the world. Tango Card has helped thousands of companies reward their users with gift cards in the past, but this new partnership with Snapcard will provide a more dynamic, flexible payout option for their clients’ users.

“Tango Card was able to use our new MassPay API to allow their users to receive Bitcoin Rewards at an email address, phone number or a Bitcoin address, all without taking on any of the currency risk,” Snapcard CEO Michael Dunworth explained.

More uses of this platform

Dunworth also described the original inspiration for MassPay, which involves a problem that affects a few different online industries. “We saw the opportunity for MassPay when we noticed partners being unable to pay out customers efficiently,” he said.

Whether it’s a rewards program for user activity or mass payments to publishers on a digital ad network, making small payments on a massive scale has been difficult in the past. This is Snapcard’s area of focus with MassPay.

From Snapcard’s perspective, the first four key areas where the MassPay platform will be useful are the mobile gaming industry, marketplaces, digital content sales and ad networks.

“Digital content companies are now able to streamline their payouts to all of their freelancers, artists and designers all with a simple API call,” Dunworth said. “Additionally, we’ve been working closely with a lot of game developers to make sure the MassPay API will plug in nicely to their gaming ecosystems.”