Pay as you play (Or how to combine the transfer of value with a social media platform)

2016 was certainly a year for world records. Yes there were the Olympics in Rio. But arguably the most important ‘gold medal’ went to two small banks in Canada and Germany, when they completed a transaction that brought with it the potential to fundamentally transform the international payments industry. Why? Because when ATB Financial, based in Edmonton, Alberta, sent C$1000 to Germany’s Reise Bank, they did so via a platform based on blockchain technology.

It was a first: the first real international money transfer using blockchain technology. It also took only 20 seconds to complete (rather than the several days most international bank transfers take to clear), and therefore helped (one presumes) reduce the juicy fees typically charged by financial institutions for processing such payments. And it’s this demand for faster, cheaper, and easier-to-use services, that makes the blockchain so relevant — and so disruptive for a payments industry held back by ‘legacy mindsets’ and the antiquated banking system.

2016 was certainly a year for world records. Yes there were the Olympics in Rio. But arguably the most important ‘gold medal’ went to two small banks in Canada and Germany, when they completed a transaction that brought with it the potential to fundamentally transform the international payments industry. Why? Because when ATB Financial, based in Edmonton, Alberta, sent C$1000 to Germany’s Reise Bank, they did so via a platform based on blockchain technology.

It was a first: the first real international money transfer using blockchain technology. It also took only 20 seconds to complete (rather than the several days most international bank transfers take to clear), and therefore helped (one presumes) reduce the juicy fees typically charged by financial institutions for processing such payments. And it’s this demand for faster, cheaper, and easier-to-use services, that makes the blockchain so relevant — and so disruptive for a payments industry held back by ‘legacy mindsets’ and the antiquated banking system.

Turning Payments Social

Still, that’s ‘their’ problem. In the meantime, people are getting busy creating digital wallets (Apple Pay, Google Wallet, Android Pay etc.), and becoming increasingly confident in turning their hard cash into digital payments (think contactless, and mobile etc.). That said the biggest driver for change is still the blockchain, and the new service offerings being developed ‘on top of it’. Services that are seemingly infinite in their possibility, based on greater privacy, security, transparency, and availability — and the wider ‘power of consensus’ promised by decentralization.

Services that look to re-imagine the potential of the Internet: from online marketplaces, to messaging and social media. What’s more, this is not a movement based on like-for-like change. Rather a platform for developing new ways of doing things, or at least refining and improving what’s on offer, and correcting the mistakes made by the established (read: centralized) players.

Take Howdoo, a messaging and social media platform built on Ethereum blockchain. This is social media with a difference, where users are given far more control over shaping their environments — from the amount of advertising they receive to moderating anti-social behavior. What’s more, it’s a platform that rewards active participation. Content creators, network operators, people engaging with adverts — all will receive a share of the revenues being generated. As for the mechanism for doing this, the Howdoo platform comes complete with its own cryptotoken: the µDoo.

The power of sharing

This is where, from a payments perspective, things get really interesting. For the first time a social media platform can genuinely facilitate the sharing and spreading of value across a network designed for mass adoption. Where each activity and payment is quickly and easily converted into µDoo. Where companies can enter the Howdoo marketplace and sell their wares in return for tokens, and turn these into a fiat currency of choice on demand; where advertisers pay with µDoo for the right to connect with their ideal target audiences (with a percentage of this revenue distributed to those users who actually engage with the material); and where user-generated content, the real value of any social network, is actively rewarded — with creators receiving their fair share of the advertising ‘split’.

Finally, to return to the topic of national and international payments, with Howdoo the days of incurring time delays and the costs of ‘clearing’ such monies are definitely numbered. Instead, users simply purchase µDoo, and send them to a recipient’s eWallet. Turning these back into a fiat currency is simple, meaning value has been transferred across geographical and political borders without the need for an expensive intermediary getting involved (or government interference).

Same for the large numbers of people and companies falling into the category of ‘unbanked’. Here third parties (think Western Union and MoneyGram etc.) are renowned for taking an even bigger piece of the overall pie. Not with Howdoo, as our international network of tellers will automatically accept and convert µDoo tokens into local currency (and be incentivized themselves to maintain a fair and competitive service).

These are big changes that threaten to overturn a payments industry that for decades now has operated to an ‘our way or the highway’ mentality. It’s a story of transformation that, when combined with a social media platform, can deliver real and positive change for millions of people across the planet.

This is the power of blockchain.

This is Howdoo

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