How To Buy Bitcoin Using Poli In Australia
- Overview - Table of Contents
- What Is POLi Pay
- How Does POLi Work
- Security And Privacy
- Why Is It Used
- Buying Bitcoin With POLi
POLi payments is an Australian payment processor owned by Australia Post. It is commonly accepted by Australian Bitcoin exchanges as a way to send money to the exchanges and buy Bitcoin.
Examples of other businesses that accept POLi are Twitch.tv, Skype, Jetstar, AirAsia etc.
How Does POLi Pay Work
POLi does not require users to create any additional account (of course you will still need to create an account on the Bitcoin Exchange). It is simply a way to easily transfer money directly from your bank account to the Bitcoin exchange's bank account.
When transferring money you will be redirected from the exchange domain to the POLi domain where you will have to enter your bank login details to automatically complete the payment.
Scroll down for a walkthrough of buying Bitcoin on an Australian exchange using a POLi transfer.
Security and Privacy
When paying with POLi you are redirected to a POLi domain to enter your bank credentials and complete the payment. POLi does not store your bank credentials, it uses them to call the banks API and complete the bank transfer. You can read more about POLi security here.
I emailed POLi to ask if they store any additional data such as the payer's bank balance, other transfers or other data and the response was no. They do store the payer's account number, account name and POLi transfer however.
Why Do Australian Bitcoin Exchanges Use POLi
The benefit for the customer is that bank transfers that would take one to three days, take a few hours or can even be instant with POLi.
The biggest benefit for the exchanges is that it allows them to know the account number and name of the payer and prevent fraud.
POLi charges a 1% fee but that fee is always covered by the Bitcoin exchange.
Walkthrough Of Buying Bitcoin With POLi
Below is a walkthrough of how to purchase Bitcoins using POLi on HardBlock Australian Bitcoin Exchange, but you can shop around for different Australian exchanges.
First you will need to create an account and confirm your email.
After clicking on Fund Deposit you will be taken to the verification page. You will need to provide your phone number and ID documents. ID Verification should take less than a day.
When you are verified you can go to the Fund Deposit page. Enter the amount of Australian Dollars you want to fund you HardBlock account with and click Pay With POLi.
You should now be redirected to a POLi domain, you can check the address bar at top. It will say POLi Payments Ptd Ltd (AU) in green. Choose your bank, POLi works with most Australian banks.
To confirm your transfer you need to login with your bank credentials. The credentials are never seen by the Bitcoin exchange. POLi does not store them it simply makes a call to the banks API to create a net bank transfer.
Now you will need to do a final confirmation of the transfer. Its likely your bank will also require an sms confirmation. After your final confirmation your fund transfer is complete. You will now have to wait around an hour for your account to be credited with Australian Dollars.
Once your account is credited click the Buy / Sell button. Enter the amount of Dollars you want to use to buy Bitcoin and press buy. You will then be shown a confirmation page showing your buy order. Press Confirm and you will instantly receive your Bitcoins.
Finally, it is never a good idea to keep your Bitcoins on any centralised exchange. Get a desktop or mobile wallet for smaller amounts or use paper or cold storage for larger amounts. Send the Bitcoin from the exchange to your wallet by providing your wallets address, and clicking send.
