Accepting the tangible asset of gold as payment.

An exciting and innovative 21st- century version of a 5,000yrs old system of accepting the tangible asset of gold as payment for your goods or services.

By Stephen Masters.

It has been a long time since gold was widely accepted as payment for goods and services. We think of the nobleman or prospector throwing down the little bag of gold to pay for his mead or whisky. In fact as long ago as 3100 B.C. there is evidence of a gold and silver value ratio in the code of Menes, who was the pharaoh founder of the first Egyptian dynasty.

However, Central Bullion is doing something new, a 21st-century version of doing just that. They have begun a payment service that allows merchants to accept payments by Central Bullion on or off a website.

Central Bullion already has a unique system in place where clients buy pool-allocated gold or silver. Pool-allocated Bullion means that you can purchase a portion of a large physical bar of gold/silver (as little as one gram) at a much lower price than what it would generally be required to buy that same amount of gold elsewhere. Your gold is stored in a secure facility, and the amount owned is kept on a ledger until you wish to transfer your holdings to someone else or cash it out.

In the case of transferring your holdings, this is where Central Bullion’s payment facilities come in. Central Bullion’s Payments allow registered users to both send or receive any amount of their gold or silver bullion, for payment or as a gift, regardless of where the sender or receiver lives or which local currency they usually use. Central Bullion clients can also make a payment or send a gift to anyone with an email address in any country worldwide, 24 hours/day, seven days a week. The recipient does not need to have a Central Bullion account already, but they must set one up after receipt to access their new bullion holdings.

What’s more, if a merchant has set up Central Bullion Payments, their customers will also be able to buy goods and services from them in exchange for gold or silver.

So, what are the advantages of setting up a merchant account to receive bullion as payment?

Tangible Assets

Much the way cryptos or even debit cards are used for payments, bullion can now be used in the same way. The first difference is that, with bullion, there is something tangible (the physical gold or silver) backing up the transaction, not a fiat currency or crypto that has no true value.

Speed

Merchants and all other Central Bullion members receive pool allocated bullion into their registered user accounts in just a matter of seconds; bank transfers can take 48 hours and more; this is even faster than the clearing of cryptocurrency transactions.

When pool-allocated bullion is transferred, it’s a movement from the sender’s account to the recipient’s. The sender sees the holdings in their dashboard decrease, while the recipient simultaneously sees their holdings increase.

Lower Costs

For those conducting business, this is especially useful. Instead of receiving a fiat currency, you accept the value of your product in grams of precious metal, avoiding high fees typical with credit card transactions.

Bullion Price Gains and Currency Fees/Fluctuations

Merchants accepting pool-allocated bullion payments can benefit from increases in the precious metal market prices and obtain the best rates when selling on the Central Bullion market, increasing their profits. Additionally, because all transactions are in gold or silver, there are no worries about currency fluctuations and transaction fees, which with inflation could reduce profitability significantly.

Flexibility and a Banking Alternative

Payments in amounts starting at 1 gram (currently around $58/gold and $0.87/silver) are possible; it is straightforward to accept Central Bullion Payments for nearly any kind of business. There are some restrictions, but merchants can generally take payment for almost any product or service of value from customers anywhere in the world, and the sale agreement is between you and your customers.

This new and fastest growing payment system is a unique creation, created as an alternative to debit and credit card payments and money transfers that involve the global banking system, cash, or cryptocurrency. Providing new ways for customers to pay can attract new clientele.

How to set up merchant payments?

You start by creating a Central Bullion Business User Account and placing the Central Bullion Payments logo, or Shield, onto your website, informing customers that you accept bullion as an alternative payment method.  Saving both you and your customer from high payment processing and cross-border currency costs.

Next, you need to inform your customer how much you require in grams of Gold and/or Silver for the transaction.  The Central Bullion Payments logo can appear alongside other payment types such as VISA, Mastercard, Bitcoin, Apple and Samsung Pay, etc.

Your customer then sends the amount of bullion in grams to your Central Bullion User Account; their portfolio will reduce by the agreed amount, and yours will increase by that amount.

Another significant advantage is that sending and receiving is free so there is no transfer/sending or admin fee charged to the buyer or you.

Any sales agreement is between you and the buyer. It is that easy.