Strike App. Presently, Western Union, Euronet, Moneygram, and most importantly, PayPal—with a little over 50% market share—dominate the remittance sector. Despite the continued dominance of the big four, new blockchain-based money transfer companies may soon overtake their smaller rivals as a result of lower fees and quicker transfers.
What is the Strike App?
One such program is Strike, which runs on the blockchain. The Chicago-based financial technology company Zap Solutions came up with the idea. The 2020 launch of Strike saw activities start in the US, but the company has big plans to expand to other rising regions, such as Latin America.
To facilitate higher transaction speeds external to the leading network, Strike makes use of Bitcoin’s Lightning network, a supplementary layer on the Bitcoin network. It provides a P2P transaction system to its users by utilizing the decentralized systems of blockchain. The simplest explanation is that no middlemen are involved; instead, funds go straight from the sender to the receiver.
How Does the Strike App Work?
Signing up for an account is the initial step, as it is with the majority of popular payment apps. Anyone with an Android or iOS device or a computer running Chrome can download the Strike payment app. When you sign up, you’ll need to provide your complete name, email, and phone number. Two messages will be sent to you: one asking you to confirm your phone number and another asking you to confirm your email address. There are intentions to increase the app’s reach beyond its existing availability in more than 95 countries.
How to Use the Strike App
Users must deposit funds into their Strike accounts before they can make any transactions after they have been opened. This is made very easy by the platform’s fiat-on-ramp feature. After that, when asked, users can connect their Strike account to the platform’s supported bank account. Another option is to use a credit card number.
When a user provides Strike with their banking or credit card information, the company uses Plaid, which specializes in integrating apps with financial institutions, to link the accounts. After that, adding funds to the strike account is as simple as entering the amount you want to add and clicking send.
Sending via the account
One of the choices available to users, when account setup and funding are complete is the ability to transmit funds. A cryptocurrency wallet connected to Strike is required for that. The wallet must be Bitcoin-compatible because the platform is built on top of the Bitcoin project. The sender needs to add the recipient’s wallet address after connecting it to the Strike app. For low-value transactions, that ought to be enough, but for high-value ones, a few more things are needed.
To complete a top-up of $1,000 BTC or more, further know-your-client (KYC) procedures are required. Address and social security number information from senders is needed. Because of the extreme anonymity that crypto-based transfers provide, they are often targeted by money laundering operations.
Other specialized transactions on offer
Although the primary service is the transfer of funds, there are additional choices available on the site. We have Bitcoin as a payment option first. Users can choose to get their salaries in Bitcoin, allowing them to benefit from the appreciation of the cryptocurrency. To do this, go to your profile in the lower right corner, click on “direct deposits,” and then choose the proportion for USD/BTC that you like.
You can set up automatic purchases, which could be helpful for things like rent or frequent transfers of pocket money. Click the “buy” button on the Bitcoin tab to get dollar-cost-averaging. Users are then able to input a USD amount and the frequency of purchases. Hourly, daily, weekly, and monthly options all rise with time. Unfortunately, this feature is currently only accessible to US clients who have verified KYC compliance.
Transaction costs
With the Bitcoin blockchain, the Strike app cuts down on all platform transactions. In order to compensate miners for validating transactions, there is an on-chain cost. The cost is 1 Satoshi, which is the most commonly used and smallest unit of Bitcoin and is equal to $0.00059.
Rewards
With Strike, you can get your money back just by paying with the site. There are no transaction costs, and the percentage might be anywhere from 5% to 15%, depending on the store and the goods. However, in comparison to the rate of retailers who accept credit cards, the number of outlets served is relatively low.
Is the Strike App Safe?
While no payment app is entirely safe, Strike uses two-factor authentication and other security features seen in other Bitcoin exchanges. Users’ money is further protected by the app’s collaboration with Prime Trust, LLC, a state-regulated trust company. Reviewers at CryptoVantage gave the Strike app four stars and lauded its “nearly instantaneous transactions” as the program’s best feature.
Conclusion
The next big thing in money transfers and payment systems might be blockchain-based apps because of how fast they are and how little expenses there are for using them. Because it uses Bitcoin, the most prominent blockchain in the world, the Strike payment app is in an excellent position to profit. The main chain’s high transaction prices and congested speed are solved by adopting the Lightning network layer.
The suitability of the platform, however, depends on the users themselves, as is the case with any platform. Users should carefully consider their financial needs, user feedback, and customer assistance alternatives before transferring any payments using Strike or any other app.
