Intuit has launched a new service called PayByCoin, that enables companies using Quickbooks Online to accept payments in virtual currency Bitcoin. When a business generates an invoice for a customer, it generally offers payment options such as credit and debit cards. With the addition of PayByCoin, businesses have an option to accept payments in Bitcoin. However, they need to link their QuickBooks Online account to the Bitcoin wallet service Coinbase, which PayByCoin uses for processing the transactions. It is being offered as a free add-on as of now and the company will charge 1% for paying out in US Dollars. The company also says that it will make local payouts a day after the transaction has been completed. Intuit has been testing out the feature since May this year with a few merchants. Issues with Bitcoin Businesses accepting Bitcoin payments generally have to deal with volatility associated with Bitcoin valuation. However, when it was seeking beta testers for the Bitcoin service, Intuit had stated that companies can list a Dollar price and not worry about Bitcoin valuation. It is worth noting that at that point, Intuit had also stated that the service works even without a Bitcoin wallet, which doesn't seem to be the case anymore. For merchants in India that are using Quickbooks Online service, Bitcoin might not be a high priority, since very few people actively use the virtual currency here. Even if it decides to accept payments from customers using Bitcoin, there is the legal ambiguity. While US…
