ALISO VIEJO, CA--(Marketwired - Mar 31, 2015) - Rakuten.com today announced it has fully integrated Bitnet's payment processing platform to accept bitcoin as payment. The Bitnet integration allows shoppers full consumer protection and peace of mind when using bitcoin for payment transactions with merchants through Rakuten.com's online marketplace. To mark the occasion, Rakuten.com is running a bitcoin promotion beginning April 1.
Fumio Kobayashi, president of Rakuten.com said: "Bitcoin turned the Internet into a secure, seamless global payment network. By integrating with Bitnet we are now offering consumers the industry standard in secure payments, and our merchants will benefit by receiving guaranteed payments. Both consumers and merchants will have peace of mind when participating in the Rakuten.com online marketplace."
The integration with Bitnet's platform will make Rakuten.com one of the most secure ecommerce marketplaces. Rakuten.com merchants will immediately see the benefits of using a digital currency, including guaranteed payment, instant global reach with no cross-border fees, no price volatility, and no fraud, risk or chargebacks, all for a transaction fees less than that of credit cards. Rakuten.com shoppers will instantly benefit from full consumer protection, including multi-sig escrow services for high-value items.
John McDonnell, Co-Founder & CEO, Bitnet, said: "At Bitnet we built security into the DNA of our platform. Our approach to security is designed to protect both shoppers and merchants. We're excited to join with Rakuten.com in offering the most secure and seamless global payment network that can be enjoyed by both merchants and shoppers."
Rakuten.com is promoting bitcoin payments with promotional campaigns to encourage shoppers to try the digital currency. The initial campaign rewards bitcoin users with a financial incentive. Other promotional campaigns will continue throughout the course of the year to encourage adoption and repeat usage.
About Rakuten.com:
About Rakuten.com Rakuten.com is a global e-commerce site that connects buyers and sellers in a dynamic marketplace and thinks of shopping as entertainment -- complete with sharing and discovery functions, great prices, fun experiences and convenience. Rakuten.com provides over 20 million products in 24 categories and includes a network of over 5,500 small and large business shop owners. Rakuten.com was founded as Buy.com in 1997 and acquired by Rakuten Inc. in May 2010. Its 150 employees are headquartered in Aliso Viejo, California.
About Bitnet:
Bitnet provides a digital commerce platform enabling enterprise-scale merchants to accept bitcoin payments. Bitnet's engineering, product, and business development team helped build and manage the world's largest payment gateway, CyberSource (NASDAQ: CYBS), which was sold to the world's largest payment network, Visa (NYSE: V), for $2 billion in 2010. Bitnet has offices in San Francisco, California and Belfast, Northern Ireland. For more information visit https://www.bitnet.io.