Milton, Georgia – August 11, 2026 – ForumPay, a payment infrastructure company that enables merchants to accept cryptocurrency with instant conversion and next-day settlement, has unveiled a new payment flow that could redefine how businesses handle card and bank transfer acceptance. The solution allows customers to pay with any Visa, Mastercard, or bank transfer in selected markets, with funds automatically routed through ForumPay’s crypto infrastructure. Merchants no longer need to register as card-accepting businesses, sidestepping chargeback liability, PCI-DSS compliance costs, and fraud management while still receiving exactly the amount invoiced.
This launch represents one of the most ambitious attempts to merge traditional payment rails with crypto infrastructure, effectively turning digital assets into a settlement layer for legacy payment methods. The move addresses a persistent pain point for businesses: expanding customer payment options without adding operational complexity or risk.
The Mechanics Behind the New Flow
ForumPay’s existing service already offered instant crypto-to-cash conversion, allowing merchants to accept Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other digital assets without exposure to price volatility. The new feature extends this capability to card and bank payments. When a customer chooses to pay by Visa, Mastercard, or bank transfer, ForumPay’s system converts those fiat funds into crypto – typically a stablecoin or a volatile asset like Bitcoin – then processes the transaction through its existing crypto payment rails. The merchant receives the exact amount invoiced, minus ForumPay’s standard crypto acceptance fee, settled in their preferred currency.
Critically, the additional costs associated with card processing – interchange fees, network fees, and chargeback reserves – are passed directly to the payer. The merchant pays only the same crypto acceptance fee that applies to any other transaction on the platform. This structure effectively allows businesses to offer card and bank transfer acceptance without the traditional burdens of merchant acquiring, compliance, and risk management.
From a technical perspective, ForumPay acts as an intermediary that absorbs the regulatory and operational complexity. The company registers as a payment facilitator (or works with licensed partners) in the markets where bank transfers are offered, and it manages the card network relationships. The merchant, however, never touches the card data or the bank transfer flows; they simply see a settlement in their preferred currency at the end of the day.
Why This Matters for Merchants
For merchants, especially those operating across multiple jurisdictions, the promise of a single integration for crypto, card, and bank payments is significant. Currently, accepting credit cards requires a merchant account, compliance with PCI-DSS (the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard), chargeback management, and fraud monitoring. These costs and risks scale with cross-border operations, where each country may have different rules and settlement timelines.
ForumPay’s solution eliminates those layers. The merchant does not need to register as a card-accepting business, nor do they need to worry about chargeback reserves being held against them. The payer bears the card processing fees, and the merchant receives settlement in the same way they would for a crypto payment – typically next-day, with no volatility risk.
This is particularly attractive for high-value transactions – luxury goods, real estate, private jets, automobiles – where chargeback risk is higher and where the ability to accept bank transfers without a dedicated acquiring setup can close deals faster. “The merchant just wants to get paid; they don’t want to become a payment processor,” said a ForumPay representative in the press release.
The Crypto Angle: Using Digital Assets as a Settlement Highway
ForumPay’s approach is clever because it leverages the existing crypto infrastructure – which already handles instant conversion, on-chain settlement, and liquidity management – to process traditional payment methods. The crypto purchase is essentially a plumbing step: the fiat is converted to a digital asset, then that asset is converted back to fiat for the merchant. The net effect is that the merchant receives the same fiat amount, but the execution happens through a crypto payment rail that bypasses the traditional card network’s rules.
This is possible because ForumPay controls the entire flow: it takes the card or bank transfer, buys crypto from its own liquidity pool or a partner exchange, sends that crypto to its merchant settlement system, and then converts it to fiat. The merchant sees a seamless experience, but the underlying mechanics exploit the speed and finality of blockchain settlement.
Comparing to Existing Solutions
Other payment companies have tried to bridge card and crypto, but typically they require the merchant to have a traditional merchant account in parallel. For example, BitPay and Coinbase Commerce allow merchants to accept crypto but also offer fiat conversion; however, they do not bake card acceptance into the same flow without the merchant being a card acceptor. Some platforms like Stripe have added crypto support, but they still require the merchant to be a Stripe user with a merchant account.
ForumPay’s novelty is that the merchant does not need to be a card acceptor at all. The company effectively becomes the merchant of record for the card transaction, assuming the liability and compliance responsibility. This is a significant shift in the payment stack, essentially turning a crypto payment processor into a full-fledged payment facilitator for traditional methods.
Potential Challenges and Risks
While the solution appears elegant, several risks remain. First, the payer bears the card processing costs, which could be substantial – typically 2-3% for cards, plus any additional fees ForumPay tacks on. This could deter customers, especially for smaller purchases, where the added cost may be more noticeable. Second, regulatory concerns: by acting as a payment facilitator for card and bank transfers, ForumPay may need to obtain licenses in each market, which can be costly and time-consuming. The press release notes availability in “selected markets,” suggesting a phased rollout.
Third, chargeback risk does not disappear entirely. While the merchant is no longer liable, ForumPay absorbs that risk. The company must have robust fraud detection and chargeback management to avoid losses. If a payer disputes a transaction, ForumPay must argue with the card network, not the merchant. This could lead to friction if the volume of high-risk transactions grows.
Fourth, the use of crypto as an intermediary introduces volatility and liquidity risk. ForumPay must manage the timing of the fiat-to-crypto-to-fiat conversion to avoid slippage. If the market moves sharply during the few seconds or minutes between the card authorization and the crypto purchase, ForumPay could be exposed. The company likely uses stablecoins for the intermediate step to mitigate this, but the press release did not specify.
Industry Implications
This development could accelerate the convergence of traditional finance and crypto. If successful, it demonstrates that crypto infrastructure can serve as a more efficient settlement layer for conventional payments, reducing costs and friction. It also opens the door for other payment companies to follow suit, potentially pressuring card networks to lower fees or improve their own interoperability with blockchain rails.
For merchants, the offering is a clear value proposition: more payment methods, no added complexity. For crypto enthusiasts, it’s a validation that digital assets are not just a speculative asset class but a functional payment layer. The fact that a company can turn a card payment into a crypto transaction and back to fiat, with a better merchant experience, suggests that the underlying technology has matured.
Looking Ahead
ForumPay’s new payment flow is not yet available globally, but the company’s announcement signals that the integration of legacy payment methods with crypto infrastructure is no longer a theoretical exercise. As the company expands to more markets and refines its risk management, we may see a wave of merchants adopting this model, especially those in high-value, cross-border sectors where traditional acquiring is inefficient.
For now, the key takeaway is that the barrier between crypto and fiat payments is becoming invisible – not because crypto is replacing cards, but because crypto is being used as a bridge to make card acceptance easier. That is a subtle but powerful shift in the narrative of blockchain adoption.