Viação Garcia and Brasil Sul, two companies of the GSB Group, are the first passenger transport companies in Brazil to accept cryptocurrency as a form of payment. The companies are initially accepting Bitcoin and will add Bitcoin Cash and Litecoin as payment options in July.
The introduction of crypto on their platforms is a mainstream milestone. The bus services cover the transportation of passengers between cities of major metropolitan regions for urban and semi-urban areas. They also offer sightseeing trips for clubs, schools, companies, unions, religious groups and general excursions in state-of-the-art fleets.
The crypto payment option is available for online bookings. To make purchases, customers open their personal virtual wallets and scan the code that appears on their screen. A voucher is then forwarded to the customer’s email to confirm the payment.
Brazil has been riding a wave of crypto trading with Brazilians exchanging roughly $2.4 billion in Bitcoin in 2017.
“Many of the economic and commercial operations are migrating to the digital world, and in the road passenger transport segment it’s no different,” says GBS Group Vice President Estefano Boiko Jr.
Despite recent clashes in Latin America between the cryptocurrency exchanges and traditional banks that arbitrarily decided to stop servicing crypto clients, digital currencies are encouraging a new class of merchants and service providers to incorporate them into their daily transactions and business activities.
The decision by GSB Group to adopt cryptocurrencies coincides with a larger trend toward globalizing passenger transport payments. The initiative Brisk Pass, founded in Germany, is a global blockchain-based system for public transport transactions. Members will use a native cryptocurrency wallet called the Brisk Wallet and pay with the BriskCoin. Smart contracts will allow members to use public transportation anywhere in the world without needing to purchase tickets in different fiat currencies.