A Bitcoin app that allows for payments via NFC at credit card accepting merchants has just gone into its alpha stage of testing. OneBit, which started out as an app developed during a MasterCard PayPass hackathon, is now expanding its horizons and embarking on a journey out into the world to test its capabilities.

The prototype, announced three months ago on Reddit, allowed people to pay using bitcoin at any MasterCard PayPass terminal. The new alpha testing product allows for payments at any credit card accepting merchant who can provide NFC payments.

During the development and funding of the company, MasterCard assisted OneBit in securing a partnership with a card issuer, but that’s the extent of the agreement with MasterCard says OneBit CEO Toby Hoenisch.

“To be clear: We don’t have [an] official partnership with Visa or Mastercard,” Hoenisch said. “But we also don’t need one. The risk would be that they force all of their thousands of issuing banks to stop doing business with bitcoin companies. The issuing banks are quite independent, so I don’t see this [happening].”

According to CoinTelegraph, OneBit raised its funding for the app and launch by joining the Startupbootcamp FinTech accelerator in Singapore in April.

Little information on how the card issuer comes into play with the OneBit app is available, but details from OneBit seem to suggest that it functions like a pre-paid MasterCard or Visa debit. The app is smart enough to tell when a client lacks the funds for a transaction, but should a transaction get to the payment stage insufficient funds would end in a “transaction declined” message.

The product is currently in an alpha testing stage, which means that a number of apps have been released to testers across the globe to make sure it functions properly.

People interested in getting in on the alpha test, or future beta tests, can sign up on OneBit’s website.

A team with an interesting in mobile payments and bitcoin

Three months ago, Hoenisch went to Reddit to announce the emergence of OneBit and its potential in the market.

“I am a serial entrepreneur and OneBit will be my 3rd company,” he said, laying out his business credentials to the gathered commenters. My background is AI, IT-security and cryptography. I have been fascinated by Bitcoin for the last 3 years, but never quite found the right idea to form a company around.”

Hoenisch describes his co-founders, CTO Michael Sperk and CCO Paul Kittiwongsunthorn, as “a background in UX&UI design and security” and a long history of building products.

On July 23rd, the group attempted to catch some attention with a viral video of someone walking into a Starbucks and paying for a coffee with OneBit. In the video, the user uses the app to make an NFC payment. While not a very professional take, the video does show an alpha user successfully using the OneBit app and a smartphone at an NFC payment terminal. From payment to coffee, OneBit appears to work exactly like any other credit card payment app on the phone.

In just three months since the initial announcement, the company has gone from prototype to alpha test. OneBit still has a ways to go to prove itself.

Image Credit: OneBit