21 June 2014 / Biz Journal – For the payments industry, bitcoin is a major threat because it could remove credit card processing outfit’s middleman fees. But it’s not so far-fetched to imagine those same threatened companies getting in on the game by buying bitcoin startups.
Digital currency bitcoin has crept out of the shadows of Silicon Valley basements and into the national spotlight. Venture capitalists — and billionaires — have bet more than $100 million on the virtual currency, which can be used to pay for vegan cupcakes and $100,000 electric cars.
The momentum of cost-efficient digital currencies threatens to disrupt the payments processing industry that has built billion-dollar companies fattened on processing lucrative credit card transactions and fees. For metro Atlanta, a national payments processing hub, that disruption could hit hard.
More than 60 percent of companies in the payment processing industry call Georgia home, including Total System Services Inc.(TSYS), Global Payments Inc., First Data Corp. and Elavon Inc. About 70 percent of all U.S. payments processed annually run through the state….. Read more
http://upstart.bizjournals.com/money/loot/2014/06/21/bitcoin-threatens-payments-sector.html?ana=twt
