The prominent telecom provider of Austria, A1 has planned to accept cryptocurrency as payment in its seven selected stores located all over Austria. The report was published by FutureZone a tech news source.
The telecom giant founded in 1881 provides service to nearly 5.1 million mobiles and 2.1 landlines all over Austria. They have started accepting cryptocurrency payments from 19th August in some of the selected branches. The payment can be made through leading cryptocurrencies like Dash, Bitcoin, Stellar, Ethereum, XRP, and Litecoin.
Initially, the company has decided to provide the aforementioned payment service to seven different locations, but with time, it will be spreading service to more cities. For the preliminary rounds of testing the company has planned to accept payment through WeChat and Alipay.
As per the reports, the telecom company is collaborating with banking giants like Salamantex, Ingenico, and Concardis to provide the solution for the price volatility of cryptocurrencies with their finance solution architecture.
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Chief of A1 Business Marketing Markus Schreiber has said in the present scenario cryptocurrency payment is become unavoidable. Accepting cash as a payment mode is becoming obsolete day by day and is affecting nearly all the industries. The new pilot program will help the company to understand the demand and acceptance of cryptocurrencies.
He further said the move is not only for the Austrian citizen but is for the tourist as well.
During the first phase of the program, customers will receive a fixed conversion price for the selected cryptocurrencies at the time of buying the service. The payment providers will mitigate the risk of volatility of the market.
The seven locations where the A1 services can be brought with cryptocurrencies are Graz Herrengasse, Innsbruck Kaufhaus Tyro, Krems Bühl Center, Kärntnerstraße, Linz Landstraße, Wien Mitte The Mall and Salzburg Europark.
Verizon, the American telecom company, is also searching for blockchain professionals. The company is planning to set up a distributed network.
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It will be interesting to see whether the move by A1 telecom can set a new wave in the payment. From this move by the big the companies, it can be understood that the virtual currencies are taking the world by storm. It is also catching the eyes of the big multinational companies.
