Pay your bills online using five leading cryptocurrencies.
Paid By Coins is a bill payment service that lets you pay Australian bills through a choice of five prominent cryptocurrencies. It’s designed for the payment of any bill featuring the BPAY logo or that requires you to transfer funds to an Australian bank account.
This review takes a closer look at the features and fees of Paid By Coins to help you decide whether it’s the right bill payment service for your needs.
Tim Falk is a writer for Finder, writing across a diverse range of topics. Over the course of his 15-year writing career, Tim has reported on everything from travel and personal finance to pets and TV soap operas. When he’s not staring at his computer, you can usually find him exploring the great outdoors.
Disclaimer: This information should not be interpreted as an endorsement of cryptocurrency or any specific
provider, service or offering. It is not a recommendation to trade.
How does Paid By Coins work?
Paid By Coins is an Australian cryptocurrency bill payment service that lets you pay bills with five digital currencies:
Bitcoin
Ethereum
XRP
Bitcoin Cash
Litecoin
How it works is quite straightforward:
You select the cryptocurrency you want to pay your bill with.
Provide the details of your bill, including the payment amount and either the biller’s bank account information or BPAY details.
Paid By Coins provides you with a cryptocurrency wallet address where you can transfer the required amount of digital coins or tokens.
Paid By Coins converts your cryptocurrency into AUD and pays the bill on your behalf.
Paid By Coins is a venture of the Lakeba Group, a Sydney-based tech company established in 2013. The bill payment service is also a member of the Australian Digital Commerce Association (ADCA).
What can you use it for?
Paid By Coins can be used to pay any bill that either:
Features the BPAY logo; or
Requires payment to any Australian bank account
This means you can use the service to pay a wide range of everyday bills, including:
Credit card
Council rates
Car rego
Insurance premiums
Electricity and gas bills
Phone and Internet bills
Rent
Rates and fees
Paid By Coins does not charge any transaction or payment fees. However, the service makes a profit on the spread, which is the difference between the price at which Paid By Coins buys and sells cryptocurrency. To get a true idea of how much it costs to pay a bill through this service, you’ll need to check how the exchange rate you’re quoted compares to the current market rate.
Paid By Coins says that it dynamically calculates the current exchange rate in real-time to make sure you get the best exchange rate.
How do I work out how much it costs to use Paid By Coins?
As Paid By Coins doesn’t charge any transaction fees as such, you’ll need to check the exchange rate the service offers you to find out how much it’ll cost you to pay a bill.
To do this, head to the Paid By Coins website and enter the details of the bill you want to pay. Once you’ve chosen your desired cryptocurrency, verified your email address and set up a three-digit PIN, you’ll be shown the exchange rate for your transaction.
For example, on 4 September 2018, the price of bitcoin was AUD$10,110.61. On the same date, Paid By Coins quoted us an exchange rate of 1 BTC = AUD$9,799.77. This means the platform charges a spread of approximately 3% – compare this with the spreads of other bill payment services to find out whether it represents good value for money.
Transfer times and limits
If you make a payment before 5pm on a business day, the payment will be sent on the same day. However, payments made after 5pm or during weekends will be received on the next business day. Please note that payment processing can take up to one hour in some cases.
The minimum bill amount you can cover using Paid By Coins is $30, while a $50,000 maximum limit applies to BTC and ETH transactions. A maximum limit of $2,000 applies when transacting other cryptocurrencies.
Where can you use this platform?
Paid By Coins allows Australian users to pay Australian bills.
Security and privacy
Paid By Coins says that all transactions completed through its platform are completely secured by crypto payments service Quixxi. It also promises that all information is kept confidential, and you can find the Paid By Coins privacy policy at the bottom of its website. Other than that, there’s limited information provided about the security features the platform has to offer.
Pros and cons
Pros
Simple and straightforward to use
Competitive spreads and no extra fees
Quick and easy way to use your crypto in the real world
Supports several popular cryptocurrencies
Cons
Other bill payment services support a wider range of coins
$2,000 transaction limit for cryptos other than BTC and ETH
How to get started with Paid By Coins
If you’ve compared Paid By Coins with other bill payment services and decided that this is the right platform for you, click through to the Paid By Coins website to start the payment process. After entering the details of your first bill, you’ll need to enter your email address and create a three-digit PIN. Once you’ve verified your email address, you’ll be shown the amount of digital currency you need to send and the correct transfer address.
No, funds are sent immediately after a payment is processed. If you’ve paid the wrong amount and need to ask for a refund, you’ll have to contact the biller directly.
You can send your bill details and payment confirmation number to support@paidbycoins.com and the service can follow the matter up with the financial institutions involved.
Yes. You can do this by using the BPAY biller code and reference number shown on your credit card statement.
Disclaimer: Cryptocurrencies are speculative, complex and involve significant risks – they are highly
volatile and sensitive to secondary activity. Performance is unpredictable and past performance is no guarantee of
future performance. Consider your own circumstances, and obtain your own advice, before relying on this information.
You should also verify the nature of any product or service (including its legal status and relevant regulatory
requirements) and consult the relevant Regulators' websites before making any decision. Finder, or the author, may
have holdings in the cryptocurrencies discussed.
Images: Shutterstock, Paid By Coins Disclosure: At the time of writing, the author holds ADA, ICX, IOTA and XLM.
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