Mobile cryptocurrency exchange and peer-to-peer portfolio Shakepay has announced a new product that allows its Canadian customers to buy bitcoins with a reserve change. Nicknamed "ShakePay Change", the pre-launch of the service was announced in a post medium.
The new service connects to a user's credit and debit card, rounds up every purchase made to the nearest dollar and uses the resulting modification for automatic purchase of bitcoins. So, if you buy a milk for $ 2.97, Shakepay Change would use $ 0.03 to invest in bitcoin or ether.
Each purchased satoshi will be added to the user's Shakepay wallet, where it can be transferred to another bitcoin wallet or sold in cash. Shakepay charges a transaction fee of 0.75% for the purchase or sale of cryptocurrency, but is free to deposit or withdraw funds.
"We are delighted that Shakepay Change allows all Canadians to easily own bitcoins, buying small amounts gradually over time and many of our customers buy bitcoins week after week for long-term maintenance purposes," said Shakepay CEO Jean Amiouny . Bitcoin Magazine Via Posta Elettronica.
Montreal-based Shakepay operates with a monetary service business license at the Canada Financial Transactions Analysis Center (FINTRAC) in all Canadian provinces and territories. The company also collaborated with the Schedule 1 bank, one of the few bitcoin friendly banks in Canada, at the start of this year. Amiouny said that the new service will be available to all customers of major Canadian banks and credit unions, so Canadian users will be able to link their bank accounts to Shakepay Change once they have been launched independently of their bank.
Regarding security, Amiouny said that the startup has developed additional security features to protect customers, including "2-factor authentication, email confirmations for outbound cryptographic transactions, PIN code app, [and] access warnings, among other fraud detection programs internally. "
He said that most customer funds are contained in a cold storage system with compressed air, with only a small portion of funds held in the company's online portfolio so that they are available for immediate withdrawals from customers.
Shakepay rounding investment for cryptocurrencies is similar to what acorns did for traditional resources. Acorns based in the United States launched its microinvestment service three years ago, which became popular among millennials, enabling the company to reach over 850,000 customers. Customers entrust the investment app with the details of their credit card; in return, the app automates the investment process on traditional assets.
Coinflash offers a service similar to American consumers through its mobile app. Unlike Shakepay, Coinflash extracts data from your debit or credit card and uses the reserve change to make purchases on Coinbase. Therefore, users need a Coinbase account before they can make the most of the automatic investment process.
Shakepay Change, on the other hand, uses Shakepay exchange, so it does not need to outsource this service.
A similar service, Lawnmower, which began as a mopping app for the purchase of bitcoins with spare parts, was acquired by Coindesk digital magazine in 2017. As with Coinflash, Lawnmower makes its purchases through API integration. with Coinbase. The lawnmower was subsequently acquired thanks to the ease of use and attractiveness of its cryptocurrency price tables.