Telecom giant A1 is testing cryptocurrency payments at certain store locations in a move to eliminate cash.
According to a report by Futurezone, customers will be able to make payments using several leading cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, Litecoin, Stellar and Dash.
The 183-year-old provider which powers an estimated 5.1 million mobile customers across Austria, and roughly 2.1 million landlines, is calling cash an old-school method for payments.
Says Markus Schreiber, head of business marketing at A1 Telekom,
“Cash is a discontinued model. With our pilot operation in the A1 shops, we will test demand and acceptance of digital currency in Austria…
In particular, guests from Asia want to pay primarily with Alipay, WeChat Pay or a coin.”
In collaboration with point-of-sale software providers in Austria, France and Germany – Salamantex, Ingenico and Concardis, respectively – the pilot test to go cashless will launch across Austria at seven A1 shop locations. They are Vienna Kärntnerstraße, ViennaMitte The Mall, Krems Bühl Center, Graz Herrengasse, Innsbruck Kaufhaus Tyrol, Salzburg Europark and Linz Landstraße.
To minimize the risk of cryptocurrency price fluctuations and spur adoption among merchants, payments will be settled in euros.
According to DashNews writer Justin Szilard,
“Multi-payment platforms like Salamantex can help overall adoption since it integrates well into a merchant’s current POS system and accepts multiple forms of digital payments, including debit/credit cards.
A merchant and/or consumer therefore has less hesitance about using it and is more likely to be gradually exposed to cryptocurrencies and the advantages it brings.”
Slated for the end of August, the pilot will also host payments for Alipay and WeChat Pay.
You can check out an interview with Schreiber here.
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