shoppers, taiwan Convenience store chain FamilyMart is now accepting bitcoin at its nearly 3,000 locations in Taiwan after striking a deal in October with local wallet provider BitoEX.
Since the news, FamilyMart has been allowing customers to use bitcoin, through a BitoEX wallet, to buy cash coupons accepted at its stores. The coupons are dispensed by its FamiPort terminals , which are a common payment channel used for everything from paying parking ticket fines or utility bills to buying train or movie tickets.
The move is aimed at visitors to Taiwan and a growing domestic user base, FamilyMart’s public relations manager Chen Chia-Chi told the Taiwanese news agency United Daily News . Growing user base
According to BitoEX , more than 500 transactions have already been made at FamilyMart stores since the feature was launched on 24th October. The firm also claims that it now has 40,000 web wallet users and a 30% annual growth rate.
"There are more and more users of our bitcoin wallet now, but the market in Taiwan is still small, and it’s still growing," said Rica Chiang, deputy general manager at BitoEX.
This isn’t the startup’s first deal with FamilyMart. Last October it launched a bitcoin-buying service with the convenience store chain, allowing customers to purchase the digital currency over the counter.
The startup says the success of the bitcoin buying service put the digital currency on FamilyMart’s radar, leading it to consider accepting bitcoin for goods. According to BitoEX, the number of bitcoin purchases at FamilyMart has more than doubled year-on-year.
"Since last year [FamilyMart] saw a growing number of bitcoin sales. That’s why they were cautiously thinking about accepting bitcoin to see if it there’s a bigger market out there," BitoEX’s Chiang said.Convenience store chains in Taiwan have been at the forefront of experimentation with e-commerce. They were […]
