This is pretty simple.
Bitcoin credit card's mag stripe is encoded with your Bitcoin address.
Each merchant (brick and mortar store) has a pre-configured terminal ready to accept Bitcoin along with credit and debit cards.
Merchant rings you up on their POS System (point of sale system) with the Bitcoin enabled software, that than processes the mag stripe Bitcoin address, ringing up your scanned items.
Amount shows on the terminal for your approval (much like a debit transaction). You press Yes (green) to accept, or Cancel (red) to decline.
Perhaps a pin code could be added somehow, this would be very hard to implement universally though, and I don't think it would be feasible, at least not at first.
Customer hits OK and transaction goes through, debiting their Bitcoin address.
Receipt prints out and shows available balance in BTC and USD.
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So, right now three things are missing:
1. The physical Bitcoin card, featuring encoded BTC address on the magstripe. (Easily achieved with common Magstripe encorder, $200-250). For the MacGuyver types, you can even overwrite the magstripes of existing credit cards or even drivers licenses.
2. Software to convert the read mag stripe BTC addresses to work with existing or new POS software, which can interact with the BTC network. This is for the merchant side of the transaction.
A special build for the terminal would have to be written. Actually, a build would have to be made for every single model of terminal that would want to be used.
By focusing on the ten most popular terminals, this can be achieved without being insurmountable. Companies like TSYS specialize in writing code for terminals and regularly update existing builds.
This is a credit card terminal.
When you get to checkout the cashier asks you how you are going to pay. Right now they ask, "Cash, credit or debit?"
Tomorrow it will be: "Cash, credit, debit, or Bitcoin?"
Technically, no this is not a credit card since it does not extend credit, more a debit card if anything. It's really a representation of your BTC address in a mag stripe form, that can be carrier around and easily used for transactions the same way a credit card can be used.
Bitcoin credit card's mag stripe is encoded with your Bitcoin address.
Each merchant (brick and mortar store) has a pre-configured terminal ready to accept Bitcoin along with credit and debit cards.
Merchant rings you up on their POS System (point of sale system) with the Bitcoin enabled software, that than processes the mag stripe Bitcoin address, ringing up your scanned items.
Amount shows on the terminal for your approval (much like a debit transaction). You press Yes (green) to accept, or Cancel (red) to decline.
Perhaps a pin code could be added somehow, this would be very hard to implement universally though, and I don't think it would be feasible, at least not at first.
Customer hits OK and transaction goes through, debiting their Bitcoin address.
Receipt prints out and shows available balance in BTC and USD.
---
So, right now three things are missing:
1. The physical Bitcoin card, featuring encoded BTC address on the magstripe. (Easily achieved with common Magstripe encorder, $200-250). For the MacGuyver types, you can even overwrite the magstripes of existing credit cards or even drivers licenses.
2. Software to convert the read mag stripe BTC addresses to work with existing or new POS software, which can interact with the BTC network. This is for the merchant side of the transaction.
A special build for the terminal would have to be written. Actually, a build would have to be made for every single model of terminal that would want to be used.
By focusing on the ten most popular terminals, this can be achieved without being insurmountable. Companies like TSYS specialize in writing code for terminals and regularly update existing builds.
This is a credit card terminal.
When you get to checkout the cashier asks you how you are going to pay. Right now they ask, "Cash, credit or debit?"
Tomorrow it will be: "Cash, credit, debit, or Bitcoin?"
Technically, no this is not a credit card since it does not extend credit, more a debit card if anything. It's really a representation of your BTC address in a mag stripe form, that can be carrier around and easily used for transactions the same way a credit card can be used.