45% of companies believe that cryptocurrencies are the future of payments.
According to new research by global payment network, Mercuryo, over one third of UK finance businesses are now using blockchain to facilitate payments.
“We’re seeing increased levels of demand from customers looking for providers that can offer them both fiat and crypto services,” comments Petr Kozyokov, co-Founder and chief business development officer, Mercuryo. “In just a few years, I predict crypto and fiat payments will reach an equilibrium, with consumers able to easily pay via whichever payment type they choose.”
In 2021, 78% of UK adults report they have an awareness of cryptocurrencies (compared to 73% the year before). The number of people who own cryptocurrency is about 2.3 million, or 4.4% of the population (increased from 3.9% last year). And almost 20% of them bought cryptocurrency to purchase goods or services(22).
“These findings tally with our own as we’ve seen a rapid rise in demand for cryptocurrency payment providers like Mercuryo. According to our data, customers value the speed, costefficiency, transparency, and general convenience of crypto transactions.” — Alexander Vasiliev, Mercuryo’s CCO.
The adoption of cryptocurrency technology by the population has led companies to offer this form of payment to their customers. According to one 2021 study, 12% of companies surveyed in the UK said they started accepting cryptocurrency in the past 12 months.
Another survey has found that about 30% of millennials in the UK think that cryptocurrencies are replacing cash and debit/credit cards. Back in 2015, another study found that 73% of millennials in the United States are involved in B2B buying decisions at their companies. Assuming the UK
numbers are about the same, we can confidently say that most of the present-time payment decisions are made by millennials at the moment.
„When we realise that people behind decision-making are often engaged in personal investing including cryptocurrencies, it becomes evident that the shift in B2B payments towards the latest technologies is inevitable. Our research as a whole confirms this assumption,” Mercuryo said.
The authors of the report were interested in whether there is an incoming demand from customers or partners for the use of cryptocurrencies. The results showed that 58% of companies have already received such requests, and among partners and clients of large companies, the demand is even higher — 75% received such a request to some extent.
According to Mercuryo survey, 45% of companies believe that cryptocurrencies are the future of payments. Large businesses often see an advantage in cryptocurrency — among them, 72% already think the same.
Mercuryo also asked them whether they feel that cryptocurrency will be integrated into all forms of financial services. 57% of businesses believe the change can happen, and among large companies, 75% agree.
Conclusion
We can say that introducing cryptocurrency and blockchain technologies will solve problems, including the speed of transactions, high fees, lack of transparency in the transfer process. Business representatives also largely agree. 44% of them note the speed of cryptocurrency transfers relative to traditional payment systems, and 41% point out lower transfer costs.
58% of our respondents believe that cryptocurrency-based payments can significantly improve the experience and reduce costs. Moreover, 57% believe accepting cryptocurrency payments will give businesses a competitive edge.
However, those looking to use cryptocurrency as a regular means of payment are still facing issues. Some of the problems common to other payment systems are inherent in cryptocurrencies, such as lack of customer service, security, and exchange rate fluctuations.
According to our findings on what is stopping businesses from using cryptocurrencies, 27% talk about vulnerability to scams and 28% are worried about rate fluctuations. Among other results, 33% think there is not enough regulatory clarity here, and 28% believe blockchain technology is still immature.
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To find out how businesses interact with payment systems and each other, we have conducted a survey of 501 senior financial decision-makers in the UK, made up of half working in large companies, while the other half are SME representatives. 60% of the participating companies work across both B2B and B2C fields, while the rest focus on B2B only.
About 20% of respondents are managers who are below the board level, 40% consist of the board or director level management, and the rest are
partners or business owners.
The study was conducted in the form of an online survey in November 2021.
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„So many people are coming here to Bucharest, people that I see and interact on linkedin and now I get the change to meet them in person. It was like being to the Football World Cup but this was the World Cup on linkedin in payments and open banking.”
Many more interesting quotes in the video below:
