Building a business, or a township, requires working with the right people!

Our partnership with Coinberry is just one of several examples that we want to share with you.

In this ongoing series about partnerships, we want to demonstrate our focus on building a scalable township. The scalability that is so important to business matters in the public sector too. The Town of Innisfil is always looking to create partnerships with innovative companies that can help us to expand the solutions we offer to locals and businesses alike.

What is Coinberry?

Coinberry is a financial technology company focused on blockchain and digital currency solutions and provides a platform to buy and sell digital assets, like Bitcoin.

It’s always been a mandate of the Town of Innisfil to facilitate innovative solutions to everyday issues that enhance its residents’ quality of life and the financial health of the Town. Through Coinberry, Innisfil is making cryptocurrency available as a property tax and town services payment option for residents and businesses. The processing of these payments are typically always handled through a third-party. In this case: Coinberry.

What problems are Coinberry meant to solve, in Innisfil?

Paying property taxes isn’t an optional item on anyone’s budget. They’re mandatory, so ensuring that there are ample ways that residents and businesses in the Town of Innisfil can pay their taxes, as well as other fees for services, is of paramount importance.

The use of cryptocurrency is growing worldwide, with demand on businesses and organizations to accept it as a method of payment increasing. While the actual demand for a cryptocurrency payment option is likely to be a moving target for the foreseeable future in the Town of Innisfil, innovative solutions are on-brand for the Town and worth pursuing. This level of acceptance of innovation and ‘out of the box thinking’ has become an identifying feature in attracting and retaining entrepreneurs and professionals to the community.

How will Coinberry work, in Innisfil?

Currently, 22% of the residents are paying property taxes through direct withdrawal from a bank account. This is a standard method, followed by cash, cheques and credit cards. The cost of using a credit card for tax payments however, a charge from the third-party processor of up to 2.9%, is paid by the taxpayer.

Individuals interested in paying the Town using cryptocurrency would proceed from the Town’s website to the Town’s dedicated payment page with Coinberry whereby they would be directed to input their information (name, address, roll number) and then be presented with the Town’s cryptocurrency public address into which they would be sending the cryptocurrency payment. 

Coinberry will process the request, charge them the 0.5% fee, immediately convert the digital currency to Canadian currency, and deposit those funds into a bank account in the Town’s name. These funds would then be automatically transferred at the end of each business day to the Town’s main bank account.

It’s clear that the fees charged make cryptocurrency an enticing option for payments made to the Town. Security is paramount in any payment option so it should be noted that the Coinberry transaction is virtually instantaneous. Since no cryptocurrency is being held in the Town’s name, there is no market value loss as the transaction is completed from payee to the Town simultaneously. In other words, the Town will always receive the full face-value of the transaction amount. 

Innisfil embraces innovation

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: these partnerships, like the one we have with Coinberry, are a learning process on both sides but what stands out is the willingness to challenge the status quo. 

We believe in the ‘freedom to fail’ making the Town of Innisfil the ideal place for businesses to test their ideas. We are large enough for meaningful trials/pilots but small enough that we’re nimble and able to act fast. 

Our ability to innovate solutions that face so many smaller communities is tantamount to us walking the walk of entrepreneurship! You can see how easy it is for startups and businesses to work with us, as we’ve already demonstrated that we’re ready and able to grow, scale and succeed!