It’s 9:50 AM, and your vehicle’s gas tank is almost empty. You’re running late already but divert towards the OTR gas station to replenish your gas. Once you reach there, you realize that you’ve left your wallet with cash and cards at home. What’d you do? Well, instead of heading back, you can use the convenience chain’s newly acceptable payment method.
Per the latest development, Australian gas station On the Run is now accepting crypto as payment in its outlets.
Pay for petrol, coffee, sandwiches in crypto
OTR has partnered with Crypto.com and payment terminal provider DataMesh Group to launch Australia’s first in-store crypto payments. Per the official blog statement,
“The partnership delivers the world’s first scalable opportunity to pay directly in-store for everyday goods via the Crypto.com App without having to convert into fiat currency.”
Crypto adoption has been growing with time. Resultantly, users are more interested in the IRL use cases of the same.
Per Crypto.com and DataMesh’s research, half of Australian crypto HODLers and merchants would like to utilize crypto to transact goods and services in-store and in real-time. So OTR’s new payment mechanism rollout is to foster the same and provide customers with another convenient payment mechanism.
Apart from gas, the users can also use cryptos like Bitcoin to pay for other daily products. Chalking out the same, OTR’s statement read,
“From today, customers holding a Crypto.com wallet can purchase everyday items, such as petrol, coffee and sandwiches across 175 OTR fuel and convenience store sites across Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia using their cryptocurrency – by simply using the Crypto.com App to scan a QR code on their phone.”
Notably, Peregrine Corp, the owner of OTR, plans to roll out the capability to another 250 retail sites across the country, including Krispy Kreme stores in SA and the Northern Territory.
Is Bitcoin among the preferred coins?
Independent research firm PureProfile surveyed more than 2,000 Australian consumers and more than 500 Australian merchants about their crypto attitudes. The same was conducted in late May and early June this year. Per one of their findings, there is “significant interest” in having the ability to make and receive payments directly in crypto. Notably, 55% of respondents said they wanted to transact in crypto.
As far as the go-to cryptos are concerned,
“Both merchants and consumers prefer to transact in Bitcoin and Ethereum but there is significant demand for an Australian dollar stablecoin.”
The Executive Chairman of Peregrine Corporation, Yasser Shahin, opined that OTR convenience stores strive to embrace innovation. It was a “natural progression” to offer customers the option to pay with digital assets like Bitcoin. He said,
“The OTR story is about giving customers choice and making life easy. The decision to offer cryptocurrency payments is centered around this story – by offering our customers convenience in how they pay, whether it be cash, card or crypto.”