CoverYou, an insurance company offering coverage for mobile devices such as smartphones, tablets and iPads to Belgium and Dutch clients, has announced that it is accepting bitcoin for premium payment.
The company will, however, only accept this form of payment from those who choose to pay the annual cumulative fee. For monthly payments, clients will continue to use the traditional online payment methods.
CoverYou relies on iDeal for the bulk of the payments it receives. It is one of the most used local e-commerce payment systems in the Netherlands. It allows customers to buy and pay for goods and services on the Internet with direct online transfers from their bank accounts.
Founder Yvonne Geijs said:
“Developments in this market are progressing very quickly. Our smartphone insurance is a popular product at the moment because of the value of smartphones nowadays. Adding BitCoin as a payment method means embracing new technology and looking ahead.”
Payment with Mollie
According to Ewoud Uphof, the online business developer for CoverYou, the company decided to exclude bitcoin from the monthly payment option because it would require more in terms of resources and technology to collect the payments.
In order to protect itself from Bitcoin volatility, the company will receive payments made in bitcoins through Mollie, an online payment processor also based in the Netherlands. That means the company will receive euros in their bank account and will not directly own any bitcoin.
Uphof told Cointelegraph that the company’s decision to accept bitcoin for premium payment was informed by messages they were receiving from members of the local bitcoin community.
Part of a Global Group
Uphof:
“I met and talked to some members of the local bitcoin community and they said there were willing to take insurance for their smartphones, tablets and other devices if we included bitcoin as one of our payment methods”
While CoverYou is a brand covering only two countries in Europe, it belongs to an international insurance group called the QSX Insurance Group that operates worldwide.
Whether this will be taken up by more insurers in Europe and the rest of the world is something time will tell. Meanwhile, bitcoin enthusiasts in Belgium and Netherlands can spend a few bitcoins to have their devices reimbursed when they are stolen or damaged.
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