Bitspark Clients Require No Knowledge of Bitcoin

“There’s no place that digital technology can change more than making payment systems, making digital transactions, very very inexpensive and also very easy…” – Bill Gates

Sending money around the world is a process that is currently sluggish on a good day. As we reported in September 2014, after high transaction fees and slow currency exchanges, a sizeable chunk of what was originally intended for the recipient is spent getting the money where it needs to go. It has been a market that is easily controlled by established players in the field with very little room for competition. This is a problem that can be solved by Bitcoin.

George Harrap is a man with a vision capable of solving this problem – Bitspark. The 26 year-old CEO, and long-time Bitcoin user, founded his company in April of 2014 and is keen to utilize the potential of crypto currency. After he spent years using available cryptocurrency products and services he saw room for innovation, stating, “In my experiences back then ease of use was non existent, trust was (and still is) an important issue, customer support was lacking.” He is now among the few who have addressed a real world problem, leveraging the utility of Bitcoin behind the scenes.

The Hong Kong-based company started with a location right next door to the competition, securing a space at the World Wide House, a center frequently visited by people who seek to send money overseas.

“It is literally an epicenter of traditional remittance providers such as Western Union, Money Gram and many others making the competition fierce amongst the masses.” – Bitspark

Their main product was money transfer services (remittances) via Bitcoin, to the Philippines. The fee for doing so is cheaper than all local competitors (about 1% of the transaction).

“We have a physical storefront on the ground in the biggest location in Hong Kong for remittances […] where people every Sunday converge to send money home to their loved ones; we remove the complexity involved with dealing with the Bitcoin system“
— – Harrap

It takes less than ten minutes and no knowledge of Bitcoin to initiate a transaction. Harrap explains, “We handle the Bitcoin part in the background with no prior knowledge needed by the customer.” An authorisation code is sent to the recipient enabling <a local bank transfer to receive funds, or the recipeint can claim funds at the Bitsprak store>. Text or e-mail updates can be provided to both sides throughout the process, which takes hours as opposed to days.

“Bitspark is focused on delivering an easy to use UI, blockchain auditable reserves, great customer support, multiple currencies, and our remittance business aims to bring the benefits of crypto to provide people a cheaper, quicker, and more accessible way to send money around the world.” – Harrap

Remittance companies from other countries have shown interest in partnering with Bitspark. The popularity of Bitsparks service has allowed them to expand their horizons. Indonesia has recently been added to the list of countries the Company services, through a partnership with ArtaBit, a company with a similar vision for Bitcoin functionality.

Trading currencies online is also a focus for Bitspark, with an ambitious year ahead for both their remittance services and new currency exchange. When asked for specifics, Harrap said, “we are making progress on scalability and developing many new and exciting services and features. For the Exchange, you can expect more currencies (including fiat), easier ways to get money into and out of the system, localization and some exciting new developments we are working on. For our remittance service we are looking to scale our presence here in Hong Kong and abroad.”

Besides user-friendly trading and global money transfers,  well-written new APIs are being developed for use with businesses. Bitsprak has ambitions of becoming a payment processor for those hoping to use Bitcoin commercially, going head to head with established industry leader such as Bitpay. The companys newest tool is called Bizmap, and its main focus is low cost Point of Sale (Pos) transactions. Bizmap couples with payment analytics, same day settlement, and free marketing, Bizmap the new tool could be an important part of mainstream adoption for Bitcoin. Bitspark is also conceptualizing a rewards program for frequent users of their products, further incentive to make them your future go-to crypto currency platform, pitting themselves against RibbitRewards.

“Bitcoin has the same value anywhere in the world, and eventually everyone will have to embrace it.”
— – Harrap

The Company focuses on transparency, presenting their physical location right on the front page, along with multiple channels of contact. This is not the case for every Bitcoin company, with some obscuring business location or offering only an automated response system for contact. This company stands out by having multi-lingual services and an office staffed with real people ready to take questions at any point in your day.

“We are intent on bringing the benefits of a free, decentralized, instant and global financial system to the world through crypto. We look to grow our team and enter new markets and of course we welcome the community to send us feedback or suggestions at any of our social channels and via email. Thanks for having me!” – Harrap

Making Bitcoin more accessible and less reliant on technical knowledge is key to its success – if everybody who used a dollar bill or credit card needed to have a PhD in Economics to do so, chances are we would revert to the bartering system. With simplicity and security being their focus, the idea of a global scale becomes more of a potential reality rather than a pipe dream. It will be interesting to see where Bitspark goes from here.

Rounds of public voting are available on their website for the new Altcoin implementation process. More information on Bitspark can be found at Bitspark.io and through their active social media channels.