Over 170 Service Stations in South Australia Will Soon Accept Crypto as A Form of Payment
From July 2022 onwards Australian customers will be able to use cryptocurrency as a form of payment in over 170 convenience stores and service stations located in South Australia.
The announcement comes as a large number of private companies continue to cautiously embrace digital currency payments as options for their customers in store.
Over 170 On The Run (OTR) convenience operations which include service stations, C Coffee dine-in and drive through cafes, Subway, Oporto and Wokinabox restaurants will be set up to accept cryptocurrency as a payment option.
This will apply across the corporation’s group of companies’ point of sale merchant terminals in metropolitan Adelaide and regional Australia.
The payments capabilities come from a new partnership with Singapore-based payments and cryptocurrency company Crypto.com, which has been growing its global presence over the past year.
The firm made news in November last year when it announced it had bought the branding rights to change the name of the Staples Center in Los Angeles to ‘Crypto.com Arena’.
It is Crypto.com’s second partnership in Australia, following the announcement of a multi-year agreement to sponsor the Adelaide Football Club in January 2022.
DataMesh Group, a technology and payments company will bring Crypto.com in as an accepted ‘payment type’, the company said.
The partnership enables the platform to launch its payment gateway with the largest private company in South Australia.
The company’s Pay Merchant payment system also allows crypto payments to merchants in Australia and follows the launch of an app and a Crypto.com VISA card in Australia last year.
Crypto.com general manager for APAC Karl Mohan believes that the landmark partnership marked the first step in achieving its goal of letting its customers “pay with cryptocurrencies at real-time market prices and avoid the cost and hassle of fiat conversions.”
“We’re thrilled to be bringing this vision to life with one the most trusted companies in Australia,” says Crypto.com general manager for APAC Karl Mohan.
Executive chairman of Peregrine Corporation Yasser Shahin believes that the mainstream acceptance of and the growth of cryptocurrency adoption both around the world and in Australia offered the firm “a clear opportunity to tap into the momentum of this fast-growing space for the benefit of our customers”.
The partnership will enable the firm to become a leader in payment innovation.
“Crypto.com is a world-changing platform. It is synonymous with the future of technology, payments and business. We are excited that our collaboration with Crypto.com and DataMesh has enabled this capability, and I look forward to our customers embracing this innovative and convenient way to engage with us,” says Executive chairman of Peregrine Corporation Yasser Shahin.
The move coincides with internal research, which was conducted with payments company Worldpay from FIS that found 75 percent of Crypto.com customers are interested in purchasing goods or services with cryptocurrency in 2022, with retail one of the top two industry segments.
Similar research which was undertaken by Australian cryptocurrency exchange Swyftx in early 2022 discovered that the large majority of Australian business leaders would like to see stronger regulation before exploring opportunities to integrate crypto into their business.
The announcement follows a number of developments as the Australian government and private industry navigate how crypto companies will be regulated as its use becomes more widespread across Australia.
In early 2022 ANZ launched Australia’s first bank-backed ‘stablecoin’ an innovation advocates believe could change how local businesses and investors transfer money online.
Crypto.com general manager for APAC Karl Mohan encourages other retailers to jump aboard with crypto payments.
