Austria-based telecom giant A1 Telekom Austria Group has started accepting cryptocurrencies from its millions of merchants.
Operating in seven countries-Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Belarus, Slovenia, North Macedonia, and Serbia-the company disclosed that retailers would receive the purchase price in euros whenever customers pay with cryptocurrencies like bitcoin.
The integration of crypto into its payment service is geared towards enabling its customers to carry out transactions ceaselessly.
With its 25 million customers and over 18,000 employees, A1 Telekom Austria Group is a leading provider of digital services and communications solutions in Central and Eastern Europe.
The company announced, “As of now, A1 Payment is accepting digital currencies for cashless payments.
“With A1 Payment, retailers across Austria can accept digital currencies in addition to other popular payment methods, such as Maestro, credit cards, and Alipay, the announcement continues.
Elimination of exchange rate risk
The company also announced that it has put in place measures to mitigate exchange rate risk, saying, “This eliminates any exchange rate or currency risk.
“Payments with digital currencies such as bitcoin, ethereum or dash are converted into euros in real-time at the cash desk.”
A1 Payment terminals are provided by Ingenico, the world’s leading payment terminal provider, Concardis provides the payment software for card payments, while Salamantex, an Austrian fintech company that specializes in payments, provides technical solutions for accepting cryptocurrencies.
The move by A1 shows that multi-nationals are beginning to realise the importance of digital currencies