How to Buy Crypto With Local Payment Methods

The best way to get started in the world of Bitcoin and other digital currencies—or the best way to keep the ball rolling if you're taking a dollar-cost averaging approach—is, of course, to convert fiat to crypto. But for a long time, actually transforming your cash into crypto has been a balancing act. You might get very good exchange rates if you choose a peer-to-peer transaction, but this requires finding a willing participant and often meeting them in person. Then again, there's buying crypto with your credit card online—sure, you can buy from the comfort of your own home, but you'll usually take a hit with worse exchange rates and high fees that credit card providers demand. As part of Invity's mission to open the world of crypto to everyone, we've made it a core goal to find the best of both worlds: great rates as well as convenience. And that's where local payment methods come in.

What do we mean by local payment methods?

When we talk about local or regional methods, we mean payment solutions that don't use payment networks like those established by Visa, Mastercard, or other mega-multinationals. Instead, these solutions are designed on a country-by-country basis or a small handful of countries that share similar banking, currency, and/or language requirements. What this means is that these solutions are crafted with a much more exacting knowledge of their users and their needs, including paying directly in a country's currency rather than exchanging to world reserve currencies like US dollars behind the scenes. This typically results in much wider on-the-ground usage, and therefore lower fees and greater convenience for all involved.

This also means that fiat-to-crypto providers are also able to better cater to the needs to Bitcoin buyers in a given region by incorporating local payment methods. The result is that customers who want to pay in local methods with local currencies get access to the best fiat-to-crypto exchange rates—simply put, you'll end up with more crypto in the end.

Who is XanPool?

XanPool is one such provider that specializes in local payments, and it's in celebration of their inclusion in Invity's comparison tool that we decided to highlight these as awesome ways to pay for your crypto. They cover 10 countries and their respective currencies: Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, India, Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam,New Zealand, and Australia. Even better, each of these countries has their own local method!

Prior to our partnership with XanPool, many users in Asia Pacific had no means of purchasing cryptocurrency instantly, or had to pay high transaction fees through credit card networks. By tapping into the decentralized liquidity network that XanPool provides, Invity users—including those using Trezor Suite!—can now buy cryptocurrencies using their local payment methods seamlessly.

"Our aim is to build the most affordable software infrastructure so that individuals and businesses can automate the processing of cryptocurrency and local currency. Imagine a world where everyone can seamlessly transact cryptocurrencies with each other easily and safely, without the limitations of legacy processes and institutions as the middlemen. That’s what we want to create.”
- Jeffery Liu, Chief Executive Officer of XanPool

So with this shared vision of simplicity and accessibility in mind no matter where you are in the world, let's take a look at a few of the most popular local payment methods XanPool and other partners offer through Invity's Buy crypto feature.

PayNow - Singapore

Singapore is focused on building a competitive fintech hub at all levels, so it's no wonder that XanPool is particularly tuned-in to the payment landscape there. That's probably also why XanPool's most popular local payment method is Singapore's PayNow. Offered as a service to retail and business customers of 11 financial institutions (Bank of China, Citibank Singapore, DBS / POSB Bank, HSBC, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Limited, Maybank, OCBC Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, UOB, GrabPay, LiquidPay, and Singtel Dash), PayNow lets users buy crypto instantly using Singapore dollars.

But the best part is that this only requires a sender's mobile number, Singapore identification card, or virtual payment address (VPA): you don't even need to know the recipient’s account number or even the bank they use when transferring money via PayNow. Super simple and all you need is your phone!

ViettelPay - Vietnam

With recent news that Vietnam has the world's highest rate of crypto holdings, it's no surprise that a Vietnamese payment method is also among XanPool's most popular. A "purely Vietnamese" payment ecosystem, ViettelPay is a standalone app that is widely accepted for bill payments, person-to-person payments, travel ticket bookings—and of course, buying crypto! Once again, all you need is a phone and the app to find the best rates on Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies then make a quick payment of Vitenamese dong to XanPool.

Sofort - Austria, Denmark, Germany, Switzerland

Like Trezor, Invity, and all your best-loved crypto products, Sofort is designed with security in mind. This means that crypto buyers in Northern and Central Europe using this method don't need to share any any personal information like card details, login info, or confirmation codes with merchants. Instead, all the payment activities occur entirely in the secure Sofort payment form that only you have access to. You can take advantage of this method when paying with euros through our partners BTC Direct and Banxa.

iDeal - Germany, the Netherlands

Similar to PayNow, iDeal is a very popular service offered by a wide network of participating banks. When you want to make a payment, you can do so in the banking app or online banking environment you're already familiar with, and the recipient's details are pre-filled into the form. This means fewer sign-up procedures, fewer opportunities for mistakes, and instant notifications of whether your payment succeeded or failed. You can take advantage of this method when paying with euros through our partners BTC Direct and Banxa.

DuitNow - Malaysia

DuitNow is another app-based payment method Malaysian Bitcoiners can connect to through XanPool. With over 40 banks participating, this makes it possible for a large percentage of the country's 30 million people can buy crypto seamlessly—and often for free, since there are no fees for transfers under 5,000 ringgit.

This is a roundup of just some of the most popular local payment methods you can use to buy crypto instantly through Invity and our providers. Check out your region and your preferred currency on our Buy crypto page to see all the possibilities open to you!

This post was created to celebrate the integration of XanPool into Invity's comparison tool. They're the best fiat-to-crypto gateway serving the Asia-Pacific region, serving 10 countries each with their own local payment method—try them out today in our Buy crypto feature!