Major Austrian telecom operator A1 has started accepting cryptocurrencies as payment in seven selected shops in Austria.

Six cryptos accepted

Starting from Aug. 19, A1 customers can pay for network services in selected A1 branches using six major cryptos: Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), XRP, Litecoin (LTC), Stellar (XLM) and Dash (DASH), according to an official announcement published on Aug. 16.

A1 Payment service, a digital payment system developed in collaboration with Austrian digital currency specialist Salamantex, German cashless payment provider Concardis and French smart payment solutions supplier Ingenico, was first unveiled in mid-June.

Alipay and WeChatPay on the way

In addition to existing cashless payment methods, A1 Payment will also enable A1 customers to pay for services using Chinese payment operators Alipay and WeChatPay later in August, the press release notes.

Markus Schreiber, head of A1 business marketing, said that paying with digital currencies is becoming more and more prevalent globally, while cash is becoming an obsolete model, which is affecting all industries. He added that the new crypto pilot will allow A1 to work out the demand and acceptance of digital currencies.

Conversion risks

During the pilot, A1 customers will receive a fixed conversion price of the selected currency at the moment of purchasing a service, while the risk of price fluctuation during the transaction validation will be mitigated by providers. Payments with crypto are now available in seven A1 locations: Kärntnerstraße, Wien Mitte The Mall, Krems Bühl Center, Graz Herrengasse, Linz Landstraße, Salzburg Europark and Innsbruck Kaufhaus Tyrol.

Recently, American telecom giant Verizon was reported to be seeking blockchain talent, including five blockchain developers in an apparent attempt to set up a distributed network.