BitWage Powers International Payrolls with Bitcoin

December 7, 2015 By: Michael Cheng

Payroll expenses are costly and slow.

Bitwage, a bitcoin startup, offers a solution that targets the pain points of payroll management for businesses and employees.

The company extends its services to Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Philippines, and the Eurozone.

Since its inception in 2013, the group has grown rapidly to accommodate big names in the tech industry, such as Uber, Google, Microsoft, GE and WHO.

“Turns out that, on average, it costs 8% to send funds across borders and often takes up to five days for funds to settle. A system that was one eighth the cost and dramatically faster was something that employers were now willing to adopt, as it benefitted them as well as the employees,” wrote Jonathan Chester, founder and CSO at BitWage.

Compared to bank-to-bank transfers, employees can receive their wages on the same or next day (depending on the cutoff time of the deposit). Service fees for both parties are non-existent, and BitWage offers a more competitive exchange rate that is usually less aggressive than the normal retail exchange rate.

Adopting the robust service is a seamless process, allowing employees to receive payouts in bitcoin, local currencies and even precious metals.

The business has caught the attention of several investment companies. In November, the group raised $750,000 in its latest funding round led by Orange and Tim Draper’s Draper Associates.

Other firms that participated in the round includes Halsey Minor’s Cloud Money Ventures, Max Keiser’s Bitcoin Capital, Saeed Amidi, and BankToTheFuture.

“We are more than excited to have the support of influential companies and individuals, such as Orange and Tim Draper. Our success can be attributed to our impressive growth, with over $1.7m in transactions since last November and our loyal customers who love what we have built,” said Chester.