What are the analogous steps between transfer of value from buyer to seller with traditional P.O.S. solutions vs. with bitcoin Recently I built a site that allows purchase of items with bitcoin, also paypal and credit cards.  In testing I haven been struck by how different the experience of purchasing online with bitcoin is vs. traditional methods. It takes much longer from the point of confirmation of sale to the "acceptance" of the payment (the point after which the workflow can move on to fulfillment).  It also takes more user input and action.  It's difficult on the surface of it to understand how this can be the case when transferring value from one person to another seems so much quicker and easier than traditional alternatives. 

It occurs to me that part of the difference may be due to fundamental differences in what is taking place. Is a credit card transaction directly analogous to a bitcoin transaction, or instead does a credit card transaction only match a bitcoin transaction considered along with the bank and other transfers on either end of it? Are there other differences or considerations to make when comparing the two experiences procedurally?  I am unsure. 

Coming up with strongly analogous steps between these two procedures of transferring value from a buyer to a seller might reveal choking points/areas of improvement for Point of Sale with bitcoin or highlight the differential value of bitcoin's approach. 

So what are the analogous steps between the two experiences?
I think the answer is that a credit card company is vouching for you when you make a purchase. The seller does not know you, but they know the credit card company, and they know the credit card will give them their funds. The credit card company in turn knows you, and has deemed you credit-worthy. This is why it's called "credit" ... from the latin credere: "to believe" or "to trust". The credit card company believes that you will pay your bill at the end of the month.

Bitcoin is like cash... except that handing over physical cash takes a fraction of a second, but handing over digital cash takes approximately 10 minutes in the case of bitcoin (less with alt coins that add to their block chains at a faster rate).

The seller could decide that if this is a repeat customer (who has bought successfully with bitcoin once or more times before) to extend credit themselves, and just assume the transaction will be validated. Then, at the time of sale, the transaction will be just as quick as a legacy credit card transaction would.

Some alt coins are building in reputation via marking (such as Bitmark) which will go a long way towards allowing sellers to make immediate credit decisions even from buyers new to them. I think this is somewhat analogous to a built-in FICO score for a particular wallet.