Founded in 1881, Austrian large telecom operator A1 has begun accepting cryptocurrency payments at seven selected outlets in Austria. A1 currently provides services for 5.1 million mobile phones and 2.1 million fixed telephones in Austria. The cryptocurrency pilot project will also provide a payment platform for Alipay and WeChat payments by the end of August.
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6 cryptocurrencies accepted
According to an official statement released on August 16, from August 19th, A1 customers can use six mainstream cryptocurrency payment network services at selected A1 outlets: Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH) , Ripple (XRP), Litecoin (LTC), Stellar (XLM) and Dash.
The A1 Payment service was first developed in mid-June by A1, a digital payment system developed in collaboration with Austrian digital currency expert Salamantex, German cashless payment provider Concardis and French smart payment solutions provider Ingenico.
Alipay and WeChat payment coming soon
In addition to the existing cashless payment method, A1 Payment will enable A1 customers to use the Chinese payment operator Alipay and WeChat payment services later in August.
Markus Schreiber, head of commercial marketing at A1, said that the use of digital currency payments is becoming more common around the world, and that cash is becoming an outdated model that affects all industries. He added that the new cryptocurrency payment pilot will allow A1 to calculate the demand and acceptance of digital currency.
Currency exchange risk
During the pilot period, A1 customers will receive a fixed exchange rate for the selected currency when purchasing the service, and the risk of price fluctuations during transaction verification will be reduced by the supplier. This cryptocurrency payment service is now available at 7 A1 service points: Kärntnerstraße, Wien Mitte The Mall, Krems Bühl Center, Graz Herrengasse, Linz Landstraße, Salzburg Europark and Innsbruck Kaufhaus Tyrol.
Recently, it has been reported that US telecommunications giant Verizon is also looking for blockchain talent, including five blockchain developers, apparently wanting to build a distributed network.
