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Consumers traveling with cryptocurrencies busting out of their digital wallets will be able to spend some of that at select Sheetz convenience stores later this summer. Sheetz says it is the first c-store chain to accept crypto.
In an announcement Friday, the 622-store chain says it will enable crypto acceptance for in-store and at-the-pump transactions using technology from Flexa, a digital-payment network. Consumers will be able to use Bitcoin, Ether, Litecoin, Dogecoin, and others. Initially, acceptance will be in-store at a limited number of locations, but it is scheduled to expand to the pump later in the year. Consumers will be able to use any Flexa-enabled app to pay by presenting a barcode or authorizing the pump directly from the mobile app, Trevor Filter, Flexa cofounder, says in an email to Digital Transactions News.
“The digital currency payment will be authorized instantly (with zero risk to Sheetz), and each transaction will settle through either the app’s custodian or the native ledger. Then, through Flexa, Sheetz can choose to be reimbursed in either USD or digital assets,” Filter says.
The transactions will be integrated into NCR Corp. point-of-sale systems operated by Sheetz, which has locations in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland, Ohio, and North Carolina. That integration capability makes it easier for retailers to take advantage of cryptocurrencies, NCR says.
Flexa says the service provides a fraud-proof payment method and one that eschews traditional card networks and their fees. “With interest in digital currencies reaching all-time highs, it’s easy to lose sight of the fact that there are real, tangible benefits for the merchants who accept them—not only reduced fraud and cost savings, but also a better and more mobile customer experience,” Filter says.
