The Beluga Pay ICO has started, there's currently just 12 days left to take advantage of a 10% bonus.

What is Beluga Pay

https://goo.gl/386grn
They plan to launch a new payment processor targeting the 3 billion people worldwide who still remain unbanked. The platform will allow merchants to accept payments through POS terminals and pay much lower fees than they're used to. The platform will also be offering short term loans to businesses.
Unlike many of their competitors the company behind this ICO already has a working product, their fiat based credit card products have already been available for years

Current banking problems

It's estimated that nearly 3 billion people still remain unbanked, in certain countries the figure is as high as 60%. This is due to high over head costs that traditional banks incur, making it unpractical for them to target customers in areas with a lower income.
This leaves many people unable to make purchases online or even with a safe place for them to store funds.
Most of the current payment solutions are also too expensive for small retailers and also involve a holding period which causes small businesses cash flow issues, small businesses and the self employed are viewed by many as the backbone of the economy however many in developing countries still deal primarily in cash, this can cause security issues aswell as them having to turn down sales for anyone without cash.

The Beluga Pay solution

By using cryptocurrency and blockchain technology it's now possible to cut costs making it more viable to target smaller customers and businesses.
The new platform will be aiming to provide payment processing solutions to many small businesses in developing countries.

How will it work?

• A consumer makes a purchase using either cryptocurrency or fiat.
• If the payment is made with fiat currency then the merchant will have the option of using BBI tokens to receive their money instantly, if the payment is made with crypto then the payment is processed instantly automatically, providing the business with access to their funds straight away.
• Loyalty points are then rewarded to the consumer which can later be redeemed for rewards.

Merchants receive money faster

BBI gas will offer merchants the chance to receive their funds faster. When a business receives payment with a credit card it normally takes 2 working days for the funds to clear. This means that any payments received on a Friday night aren't released to them until Wednesday, this can cause many small businesses cash flow issues.
By using BBI gas merchants will receive their funds instantly.

How big is the market

With the rise of the internet many payment processors have recently been formed. Some of the biggest have excelled, quickly becoming some of the biggest companies in the world:

• Paypal: Founded in 1999 they've recently reached a market cap of $100 billion.
• Square Inc: Founded in just 2009 they already have a market cap of $10 billion.

Beluga RestoPay

They already offer a management system for restaurants that provides many features such as allowing customers to make reservations, make orders and offering features for inventory management for the restaurant. Once the ICO is complete they plan to open source all of their code which will allow restaurants to design their own solutions. This should increase the usage of the payment processing system.

Token use and benefits for token holders

• BBI will be used to purchase Pro membership which offers businesses advanced analytics.
• BBI will be used for loyalty rewards to reward their customers.
• BBI tokens will be used for factoring, allowing merchants to receive their funds much faster than traditional options.
• Token holders will receive 0.5% from all transactions made.

Key team members

• Alexa Avila, CEO: The Co-Founder of the predecessor espiralapp.com. A consultant for Citigroup coaching on blockchain.
• Hugo Munguia, CTO: A fullstack developer, he was also CTO of espiralapp and helped to design their products.
• Sarvana Malaichami, CDO: A blockchain developer and the founder of smartchainers. He's also a regular speaker at blockchain conferences in India.

ICO Details

• Pre sale dates: December 1 until February 28.
• ICO dates: March 1 until March 31.
• Price: 1 ETH= 228.00 BBI, bonuses available.
• Token type: ERC20

Conclusion

There's been quite a few similar projects launched recently. This one however offers the advantage of the company behind the project already having experience in the industry and having already built up relationships with banks.
The team also has a lot of experience with blockchain technology and has plans to list the token on major exchanges as soon as the sale is complete which should hopefully see the price rise.
The token offers clear benefits to investors and gives a clear incentive to hold on to it by offering 0.5% of the total transaction to token holders.
The token also has a clear usage in the system unlike many recent token sales which seem to just be using tokens as a way for them to raise money.
Sign up now to take advantage of the early discounts on offer, a full whitepaper can also be found on their website:
website: https://goo.gl/386grn