Canadian startup YesToBitcoins allows users to pay credit card bills in Bitcoin

Posted On 16 Dec 2014

Tag: Bitpay, Darwin Ramon, YesToBitcoins

YesToBitcoins, a Canadian startup dedicated to helping consumers conduct Bitcoin transactions, announced Monday that users can now pay their Canadian credit card bills using the digital currency.

“The idea came from asking, why can’t I use Bitcoins to pay my credit card bill?,” said YesToBitcoins.com creator Darwin Ramon in a press release. “The technology is already here, so why do I have to wait until the banks catch up?” Ramon added to his site the ability to pay with Bitcoin all Canadian credit cards, which include four types of American Express cards, 33 VISA cards, and 23 MasterCards, otherwise only payable using fiat currencies.

On YesToBitcoins.com, users select the specific brand of credit card (VISA, MasterCard, or American Express), the type of card, and the amount to be paid. BitPay facilitates the Bitcoin payment and the credit card payment itself is done from President’s Choice Financial, a Canadian banking firm.

Launched last June, YestoBitcoins began as an online service provider allowing Bitcoins to be used to buy gift cards from major retailers and leading global brands. Among the international brands YesToBitcoins supports are Amazon, Lululemon, Starbucks, Ticketmaster, and Zara. The company allows users to purchase with Bitcoin gift cards to many Canadian businesses such as the cinema chain Cineplex, the bookstore chain Indigo, airliner Air Canada, and clothing retailers Roots and Simons. The company also allows Canadians to pay in Bitcoin their electricity bill, and to donate to UNICEF Canada and the Canadian Red Cross with Bitcoin.

Image courtesy of BitPay

About the Author

Katherine Fletcher is a writer and editor based in London, Ontario, Canada. With a graduate degree in journalism, Katherine spent more than five years curating news on Canadian higher education for a marketing consultancy. Her interest in reporting on Bitcoin stems from her belief that digital currency is, and will continue to be, a disruptor in how we conceive modern currency.