C-Gold (Commerce-Gold)

Online electronic payment processing is a multi-billion Dollar business and we have all heard of the big players in the game such as Paypal and Moneybookers who process credit and debit card payments and bank transfers for millions of users worldwide. However a well less known form of electronic payment processing is flourishing right now. Digital (or electronic) gold is a virtual online currency based on ounces of gold.

One of the leading pioneers of digital gold is Seychelles based company Commerce Gold who operate under the name C-Gold. Founded in 2005, C-Gold specialize in the development and operation of online market places and e-commerce platforms.

The idea behind digital gold is a simple one, C-Gold hold a deposit of bullion (over 30 KG worth in this case) in Malaysia and users can buy some of this gold to trade with through a worldwide network of independent third party exchangers who will pay into a user's C-Gold account in exchange for money. Users can also visit one of Commerce Gold Network's stores and trade in physical gold bullion bars to add to their account. There is a minimum weight policy in force however of 1,000g (999 fine, marked and certified bars) for this. There is no extra charge for this. The final way a user can fund their C-Gold account is to receive payments from other users who already have gold in their accounts.

Once a user has gold in their account they can spend it in a couple of ways. Firstly, they can use it to pay for goods or services bought from other C-Gold users and secondly an increasing number of online merchants are accepting C-Gold on their websites as a payment method. Users can manage their account entirely from C-Gold's website, allowing them to check their balances, make and receive payments, review past transactions, and set up payment interfaces to accept C-Gold payments from their own websites with just a few clicks of the mouse.

Users can redeem the gold in their C-Gold account in much the same way as they funded it, selling it for cash at one of the many independent third party exchangers or for physical gold bullion bars direct from Commerce Gold Network who will even send the gold bar through the post to you fully insured.

The unit of currency used by C-gold is the gram (g). At the time of writing (April 2012) 1g of gold held in a C-Gold account was worth around $52 US.

Using digital gold such as C-Gold has many advantages including the fact that all payments take place immediately 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Also all transactions are final, so sellers have no fear of chargebacks like they do with credit cards.

C-Gold is perfect for anyone who wants to send or receive secure, instant payments over the Internet and save on transaction fees and eliminate currency exchange risks. Some examples of the types of business using C-Gold include online shops and service providers, businesses with cross border customers, affiliate program operators, online gaming sites, paid subscription sites, fee-based download sites, pay-per-view content providers, online auction sites and international mail order businesses. The list could be endless really.

The biggest benefit by far though of C-Gold's system is the low fees involved. Transaction fees are as low as 1% which is much lower than most other forms of electronic payment processing.

At the time of writing C-Gold has over 37,000 account holders and this is growing all the time.