ONEBIT: Use Bitcoin at any merchant that accepts credit cards

ONEBIT, an NFC[1] wallet application that allows users to pay with Bitcoin at any merchant that accepts credit cards, has entered its alpha testing phase. ONEBIT announced that users can test the application worldwide and that it will soon enter a closed beta phase.

OneBit started as an NFC payment tool for MasterCard's contactless credit card system PayPass, which allows users to use Bitcoin at any store that accepts MasterCard. The application was developed by OneBit CEO Toby Hoenisch, who said:

“I have been fascinated by Bitcoin for the past three years, but it was only now that I came up with the right business idea. With the cooperation of MasterCard and DBS Bank, I successfully got them interested in OneBit. I am confident that we can build OneBit without getting into trouble like Charlie Shrem (Translator's Note: Charlie Shrem was sentenced to prison for money laundering).”

ONEBIT Application

OneBit explicitly stated that they do not have a partnership with Mastercard. Hennessy said:

“To be clear: we do not have a formal partnership with Visa or MasterCard, and we don’t need one. The risk is that they would force all of their issuing banks to stop doing business with bitcoin companies, and the issuing banks are fairly independent, so I don’t see that happening.”

It is reported that in order to raise start-up funds for their application and promotion, the OneBit team also joined the Startupbootcamp FinTech accelerator in Singapore in April.

On July 23, OneBit released a trial video of a user using the OneBit wallet to pay for coffee at Starbucks. In the video, the user requested an NFC payment option, then he opened the OneBit app, and the payment and change were almost instantaneous. Unlike credit cards, the OneBit app is prepaid, which is similar to all Bitcoin wallets. Therefore, users are able to check if their wallet has enough funds to complete the payment.

Henich further explained on Reddit that the ONEBIT application can be described as a prepaid MasterCard or prepaid Visa debit card. Therefore, "if you don't have enough funds, you can't complete the payment. When you make a payment without sufficient funds, the terminal will prompt you: transaction declined."