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Press Release: Verichannel, LLC announced today it had entered into an agreement with Coinapult, one of the leaders in Bitcoin payment processing, to bring a broad range of Bitcoin services to retail jewelers.
Under the terms of the relationship, Verichannel is able to offer retail stores and etailers the ability to accept Bitcoin as they would Visa or PayPal, and receive U.S. dollars directly into their bank accounts, without having to touch the Bitcoins themselves. Unlike credit cards or PayPal, Bitcoin transactions are not reversible. And through its partnering relationship with Coinapult, Verichannel is able to offer retail jewelers in the U.S. a negotiated fixed-fee of $3 per transaction, total. The fee is slightly higher outside the U.S. "One of the biggest problems facing retail stores is the risk of credit card reversals," explained Verichannel's CEO, Jacques Voorhees. ''The bias of the card processors in favor of the consumer, while understandable, also enables too much fraud. Vendors are at risk on almost every transaction. Furthermore, with today's ultra-thin margins, the percentage-based credit card processing fee doesn't help." Bitcoin technology has received considerable publicity over the past 12 months and was featured on the cover of Time magazine in December. Overstock.com began accepting Bitcoin in January and processed 800 orders totaling $126,000 on their first day. Guild jeweler Tivol, in Kansas City, also recently completed a Bitcoin transaction and now accepts the digital currency. "We have been extremely impressed with the possibilities that Bitcoin brings to our industry and are excited to provide this convenient currency option to our customers. We believe Bitcoin's popularity will only increase with time," said Cathy Tivol, Tivol's CEO. Voorhees said, "Competitive forces unleashed by technology have battered retail jewelers. This is an area where retailers can use technology to their advantage, to cut costs and reduce risk. They can be ahead of the game on this one." Under the Verichannel/Coinapult service a retailer who accepts Bitcoin has the digital currency converted into dollars automatically and deposited into the merchant's account. "If you sell a ring for $2,000," explained Voorhees, you will receive exactly $2,000 into your bank account, minus the $3 fee. In this way the merchant is shielded from exchange rate volatility and never actually owns the bitcoins." Merchants interested in adding Bitcoin processing to their MasterCard, Visa, American Express and PayPal processing can contact Verichannel at 1.917.512.2393 or email teri-at-verichannel.com.
About Verichannel Verichannel builds and operates jewelry industry search engines and online catalogs. These include DailyDiamondReport, a database of diamonds recently graded by the primary gem labs; IJO Diamonds, a searchable database for jewelers sourcing from IJO suppliers; FMX, a private trading platform for Forevermark diamonds and jewelry; Worldmart*E, a B2B search engine in China that is fueled by Verichannel's diamond feed; and Gemfling.com, the company's consumer-facing search engine that helps buyers choose both products and stores. Verichannel was founded by Jacques Voorhees, founder of Polygon and Bill Boyajian, past-president of GIA. Learn more at: www.verichannel.com. About Coinapult Coinapult offers Bitcoin merchant services, including payment processing gateways, Bitcoin wallets, and Bitcoin delivery systems. Learn more at: www.coinapult.com.
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