Deloitte survey findings suggest that “digital assets will replace fiat currencies in the next five to ten years”

US merchants have prioritised researching and developing implementation plans for digital currencies to become a payment option, as they are rapidly becoming accepted as payment for a wide range of goods and services across the world.

Deloitte recently released an extensive report titled “Merchant Adoption of Digital Currency Payments Survey.” The report highlighted the enthusiasm for accepting digital currencies as a payment option from the majority of US merchants surveyed.

Of those surveyed, 85 per cent of respondents from the goods and service industries anticipated that digital payments will be “ubiquitous” within five years, stating that their “adoption of digital currency payments puts them at a competitive advantage”.

Zachary Aron (Principal, Deloitte Consulting LLP, and Global and U.S. Banking and Capital Markets Payments Leader) suggested that it is becoming an absolute must for merchants to consider accepting digital currencies to stay competitive, and those that choose not to are running the risk of falling significantly behind.

“Customer demand for more innovative and flexible options is now a given, and merchants are finding the means to deliver digital payments in more effective ways, creating value for each player in the transactional flow.” He said.

However, merchants do believe there will be challenges involved with considering digital currency payments, such as the complexity of integrating the payment option and the current lack of regulations.

Deloitte’s survey disclosed the ways that merchants believe digital currency payment processors can provide a smooth transition to accepting digital payments, which included avoiding the traditional holding period, providing incentive programs and eliminating transaction costs.

May Zabaneh, Vice President of product for PayPal’s Blockchain, Crypto, and Digital Currencies Business Unit highlighted how important it was for merchants to prioritise accepting digital currency payments.

“Merchants understand how important it is to accept payment types their customers want to use, and digital currencies are now an important consideration as merchants think about their payment capabilities,” she said.