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Wallet app Fold is set to launch ACH Rewards, paying out up to 1.5% in Bitcoin for payments made through the platform, Senior Marketing Manager Brian Harrington recently told The Block.
Companies that launched payment cards by joining Visa’s Fintech Fast Track accelerator program in 2020 Use Bitcoin as a rewardIt claims to be the first to offer a cryptocurrency-based Automated Clearing House (ACH) rewards program.
Harrington said that today, ACH payments are typically reserved for large electronic transfers, such as mortgage, credit card and rent payments, meaning users could end up with cryptocurrency on some of their “largest purchases.”
“By simply downloading Fold, you can ‘refinance’ your home for better terms, reduce your mortgage or lower your credit card bill,” Fold CEO Will Reeves said in a statement.
Fold has distributed $42 million in rewards so far, the company said. According to a survey of Fold’s user base cited in the press release, many users testified that they have more bitcoin in their rewards accounts than dollars in their savings accounts.
About 60% of respondents said they expect to see a need for additional Bitcoin financial services.
“For Bitcoin to be successful, it has to continue to displace the traditional banking system, which continues to censor Bitcoin purchases,” Harrington said. “This is about Bitcoin being useful to people in their everyday lives.”
Founded in 2014 by Reeves and Matt Luongo (who now focuses on Bitcoin DeFi at Thesis), Fold started out as a way for people to exchange gift cards for Bitcoin. It soon expanded to reward users with Bitcoin when they purchase gift cards for certain retailers, and so much more.
Reeves recently told Bitcoin Magazine that Fold is now one of the few full-stack infrastructure companies that allows Bitcoin wallets to connect directly to FDIC-insured banks and Visa payment rails, enabling easy conversion between Bitcoin and fiat at every step. interview.
The Visa card will pay a variable or fixed Bitcoin reward on all purchases, depending on whether you pay $10 per month or $100 per year for the Fold+. (formerly Spin+) Use membership for more consistent rewards. Free accounts get a chance to “spin” Fold’s rewards wheel every time they spend $10.
The company $2.5 million seed round In 2019, it received investments from Craft Ventures, CoinShares, and Slow Ventures. In 2021, it raised an additional $13 million.
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