Pay bills with stablecoins like USDC
Yes. Artisan pays a bill straight from your USDC balance, a stablecoin built to stay level with the US dollar, with no cash out first. The biller is paid in US dollars over a US bill payment network, so it does not need to accept crypto.
Which stablecoins and chains work?
Your Artisan balance is in USDC. You add to it by sending USDC to your Artisan address, by sending other stablecoins or other crypto, which convert to USDC when they arrive, or by moving dollars in from a US bank account, which arrive as USDC. Adding money walks through each.
An address only works on the network it belongs to. The live list of networks Artisan can receive on is on Which chains you can use, and the Add money screen in the app shows the ones open at the moment you look.
Can I pay with USDT, other stablecoins or other crypto?
Yes. Send USDT, another stablecoin or many other tokens from numerous chains, and they convert to USDC when they arrive, so the bill is still paid from your USDC balance. Converting between stablecoins such as USDT, USDT0 and DAI costs 0.02%, and any other token costs 0.4%.
Check the Add money screen for the network before you send, because money sent on a network that is not offered there does not arrive in your balance, and Artisan cannot get it back.
How a bill leaves your balance
You pick the biller, enter the account number and the amount, and approve the payment from your balance. Converting USDC into dollars is a regulated step, so a licensed partner does it under its own license. Artisan is non-custodial, which means you hold your own funds and we never take custody of them.
The dollars then travel to the biller on the bill payment rail. The receipt in the app says usually within 2 days, so pay before the due date and not on it.
What the bill payment network has to do with it
The bill payment network is an electronic route in the US that connects to billers. It is the road the dollars take after USDC becomes dollars. Over 100,000 billers are in the Artisan network, and a biller on the network receives a payment it already knows how to receive.
What it costs to pay a bill from USDC
A bill carries a processing fee of 2% of the bill plus $2.50, an Artisan fee of 0.5% of the bill, and any network fee shown before you approve. The processing fee goes to the payment processor that pays your biller. Artisan keeps only its 0.5%.
How much it costs to pay a bill with USDC has the full table. Fees can change, so the review screen is the final word.
A worked example on a $240 bill
Say your electric bill is $240. The processing fee is 2% of $240, which is $4.80, plus $2.50, so $7.30. The Artisan fee is 0.5% of $240, which is $1.20, so the two fees on a $240 bill come to $8.50. The total is $248.50, before any network fee.
The electric company receives $240 in dollars. The fees are the cost of paying from USDC without selling it first.
Which bills can I pay from USDC?
Rent to a landlord or property manager, credit card bills, utilities, phone and internet, mortgage, car loans and insurance. The smallest bill is $20.
The card bill has its own page, How to pay your Amex card bill with crypto, because card issuers each have their own rules about what they accept. For every kind of bill, start from Pay bills with crypto using USDC stablecoins.
Does the biller need a crypto wallet?
No. The biller is paid in US dollars and sees an ordinary bill payment. It never receives USDC.
Do I have to sell my USDC first?
No. You pay from your USDC balance in the app. There is no sale to make and no bank transfer to set up first.
Who can use it?
Artisan is for people in the US, and it pays US billers. It is open by invite while it grows, and you can join the waitlist.
Artisan is a software company, not a bank, and a USDC balance is not a deposit. Read where your money is and the risk disclosures before you pay a bill. Why something is pending covers the waits you may see.