From cointelegraph by Marcel Deer

Key takeaways

Paying bills with cryptocurrency is growing in popularity as digital currencies continue to gain mainstream adoption. Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin BTC$95,537 and Ether ETH$3,567.63 can be used as an alternative payment method for many regular expenses, such as credit card bills or car repayments. 

You can now use a huge range of altcoins. That means you could pay your mortgage with Dogecoin DOGE$0.4043 or your student debts with Pepe PEPE$0.0000199. 

Why use cryptocurrency for bill payments?

There are several reasons you might choose to pay your bills with cryptocurrency.

A growing number of businesses and suppliers are responding to the demand from people to pay their bills using cryptocurrency. Organizations such as AT&T, Microsoft, Shopify, Tesla and Logis have all started accepting digital currency payments. In some cases, companies can even integrate crypto into their payroll.

Adding to this, specialist crypto bill payment platforms have integrated with payment processors. Payment processors are systems that handle financial transactions between the merchant and the customer. In certain countries, this enables you to pay almost any bill with cryptocurrency.

Did you know? In October 2012, BitPay reported having more than 1,000 merchants accepting Bitcoin through its payment processing service.

Getting started: Setting up for crypto payments

Let’s get started learning how to pay your bills with cryptocurrency. The first thing you’ll need to do is set up a crypto wallet. This is what you’ll use to store and manage your funds. 

Create or import a wallet

If you already have a crypto hardware wallet, it can be easier to transfer funds to a software wallet to make the payment process smoother. Some bill payment platforms don’t integrate well with cold wallets like Trezor or Ledger.

Buying cryptocurrency

If you don’t already own any, you’ll need to buy some crypto and transfer it to your new wallet. 

Steps to pay bills with cryptocurrency

Next, let’s learn how to set up crypto bill payments:

Step 1: Choose a bill payment service

To pay bills with cryptocurrency, you’ll need to choose a reputable bill payment service that supports digital currencies. BitPay is the most well-known platform offering the ease of a phone app or web platform. It allows you to start paying bills with Bitcoin, Ether and 100+ other coins.

Step 2: Connect your billing accounts

Next, you need to connect your billing accounts to the crypto payment service. This process typically requires you to provide some basic KYC information, such as name, address and phone number. 

In some instances, you’ll also need to provide a government-issued ID to verify your identity. Once your accounts are connected, you can start viewing and managing bills through platforms like BitPay.

Step 3: Select and pay your bills

Now you’re ready to go. On the bill payment service, select the bill you want to pay from your connected accounts. If you’re using an external wallet, then you’ll select this next, followed by the cryptocurrency you’d like to use for payment. 

Finally, you can complete payment for the generated invoice. You’ll see the invoice instantly reflects the payment once the transaction is validated. For most cryptocurrencies, this happens in seconds or minutes. 

Types of bills you can pay with crypto

Credit card bills

It’s straightforward to pay your credit card bills with cryptocurrency using services like BitPay. The crypto payment processor connects to your credit card balance and so you can pay it off from your crypto wallet. This includes well-known major banks and card providers such as American Express, Visa, Discover, Capital One, Chase, and Barclays, among others. 

This allows you to integrate crypto into your everyday spending. You won’t miss out on the credit card perks and rewards while retaining the flexibility and speed of paying it off from your digital wallet.

Mortgage and rent

The chances are your house payment is your largest monthly expense. But you might also have a large amount of money tied up in crypto — particularly if it’s appreciated over the years. Or you might even receive your salary in crypto and don’t want the hassle of trading it for your local currency.

Now, it’s possible to pay your mortgage with cryptocurrency. Adding to this, you can also pay rent with cryptocurrency, too! You simply need to connect your payment processing provider to your mortgage or rental bill. Then, you have the option to pay in 100+ different coins.

Car payments

Car dealers are quickly learning to love crypto. You’ll remember that for a while, Tesla has famously accepted Bitcoin for its electric vehicles. Plus, it still enables customers to pay in Dogecoin DOGE$0.4043. A number of dealers for companies like Infiniti and Mitsubishi accept crypto payments for their vehicles.  

Using cryptocurrency bill payment services like BitPay, you can pay for your auto loan, too. All you need to do is connect your car bill with the payment service. This then enables you to pay directly from your crypto wallet. Adding to this, you can even fill it up with a tank of gas from Chevron and Texaco by purchasing a gift card.

Student loans and personal loans

Student loans follow you through life. Having the flexibility to pay in crypto helps take the stress away. Particularly for younger generations who use the crypto market as a growing part of their investment portfolio. Or even get paid their salary in digital currency. So, it makes sense to pay off your student debts or personal loans with those profits and income.

To pay your loans with crypto, you’ll need to sign up for a payment service and connect your loan bill. Then, you can pay it off directly from your crypto wallet with the coin of your choice. This method allows you to pay Navient, Nelnet, Sallie Mae, Discover Student Loans, FedLoan Service and almost any other student loan provider.

Supported cryptocurrencies and wallets 

When using a payment service like BitPay, you can choose from over 100 popular cryptocurrencies for bill payments, including:

In addition, you can use a wide range of crypto wallets and crypto bill payment apps to pay your bills. The compatibility differs slightly depending on what coin you’d like to pay with. 

One option is to use popular payment protocol-compatible wallets such as Mycelium or Edge to pay with Bitcoin. Payment protocol ensures you send exactly the right amount, avoids failed payments, and adds security to paying bills with crypto. 

For increased flexibility, you can also choose most Web3 wallets, such as Coinbase Wallet, Trust Wallet or MetaMask. The latter is great when using Ether for bill payments.

One thing to note is that payment services like BitPay don’t integrate well with hardware wallets like Trezor or Ledger. So, you might need to set up a new payment-specific wallet if you store your crypto that way.

Did you know? Roughly 2 billion people in the world remain unbanked; with a smartphone and internet access, they can use crypto to pay bills and participate in the economy.

Pros and cons of paying bills with cryptocurrency

Pros:

Here are the main advantages of paying bills with cryptocurrency.

Cons:

So, what are the disadvantages of crypto bill payments? 

Did you know? Bitcoin transactions are confirmed in 10 minutes on average, and Ethereum transactions take seconds. In contrast, traditional bank transactions can take three to five days to settle.

Overcoming banking hassles with crypto bill payments

You can enjoy several advantages of paying bills with cryptocurrency, making it an attractive option these days. You can enjoy the fundamental advantages of crypto, such as increased privacy, lower transaction fees, speed and flexibility.

Adding to this, younger generations are increasingly being paid their salary in crypto or using it as an investment. The ability to pay your regular bills, such as credit cards or mortgage payments, directly in crypto is quick and easy. You no longer need to worry about trading or withdrawing your digital currency to a traditional bank account, which can cause a lot of headaches with some banks.

The borderless design of cryptocurrency also makes them ideal for cross border payments. This gives you seamless international payments without the hassle of currency conversions; it’s perfect if you’re living or working abroad but still have bills to pay back home.

The future of bill payments with cryptocurrency

The future of bill payments with cryptocurrency continues its march toward mainstream adoption. More businesses and service providers are embracing digital currencies as a form of payment. 

There’s never been a better time to start exploring the idea of paying your bills in cryptocurrency — particularly as the benefits will continue to become more apparent as the technology and infrastructure evolve.