> Online, it's 23 digits that you don't know, and then 3-23 more fields (shipping address, billing address, name, email, etc. etc.) That sucks.
Shipping address, name, and email are necessary even if you use bitcoin. Billing address is usually the same as shipping address. That leaves the CC number, in which case the equivalent is your bitcoin address. So there's no real win here. And if you're using a regular online shop, then they probably have all these details saved. With Amazon, I can buy things with one click. With Newegg and other stores that I use regularly, its two. I haven't seen any bitcoin experience that matches that. Reading up on "experiences" people have with Overstock and Tiger Direct, it all seems very roundabout and inconvenient. And then you're hit with shit like no refunds to top it off.
> Even at it's best in the Stripe Checkout model, it's less than ideal and extremely unsafe - it's so unsafe that American Express is RUNNING COMMERCIALS ADVERTISING HOW UNSAFE THEIR PROCESS IS!
Pull is less safe than push, yes. Bitcoin is undoubtedly more secure than giving your CC number. But pull is more convenient for consumers, as I outlined above.
There's work-arounds for credit cards, such as virtual card numbers, but they haven't gained broader consumer penetration for the exact reason that they're inconvenient. In practice, the "unsafe but you can get the charges reversed" system works well enough that promoting a new system based on the fact that its safer isn't really enough.
> For your convenience, let's 2.9% and $0.30 of every transaction. That's a huge drain on the margin for a business of any size, but especially someone with checkout size about 10-50 bucks and margins of 10-40%.
Not every business charges 2.9%. Many get rates as low as 1% (this is what we charged large corporations, if I remember correctly). With bitcoin, you're going to get hit with transaction fees, exchange fees, and exchange spread. For small shops, its likely that will come out less than the CC fees, but for bigger stores its questionable.
Edit: Note that I hope these problems will be solved. Ideally, we see the Bitcoin protocol and ecosystem mature such that it is as convenient as a credit card and safer to boot.
