T-Mobile has partnered with InPay to let its customers to pay with digital currency for top-ups.
T-mobile, the biggest mobile phone network operator in Poland, has started accepting payments for top-ups in digital currency. The company, which rolled out a three-month trial in using the new service, provides a 20% bonus for those who try out the service instead of utilizing other forms of payment.
T-mobile has partnered with polish company InPay that will serve as a processor of bitcoin transactions and will convert all revenues earned by T-Mobile, into Polish Zloty at the prevailing exchange rate. Today, more companies start accepting bitcoin as digital currency transactions imply lower overhead fees than credit cards.
All companies that accept bitcoin payments usually don’t hold any digital currency themselves. Likewise, T-mobile will receive local currency upon the completion of each transaction.
In order to pay with the use of virtual currency, the customer has to send the exact amount to T-Mobile and then receive a code for unlocking the credit. No personal data of the users will be used during the operation. In comparison with customers paying in cash, the users of digital currency will get 20% additional talk time.
At the moment, the number of company’s subscribers amount to 15 million people. T-Mobile has not yet confirmed plans to launch the bitcoin payment option in other regions except Poland.
Over the last few months, a number of giant internet companies announced the expansion of their bitcoin payment services. Thus, Dell enlarged its customer base by launching the digital currency payment service in the UK and Canada. The service was first launched in the US last year. Until now, the biggest purchase made with bitcoin has been a high-end PowerEdge server system valued at over $50,000.
The company is the world’s third largest PC seller with an annual profit of about $60 billion. Meanwhile, Microsoft enabled its users to pay with bitcoin for video games and apps offered at its online store.
Another interesting piece of news from the bitcoin ecosystem is that International Business Machines (IBM) intends to use the blockchain technology for the development of new payment system. The platform will not only include the digital currency, but will also use Euro and US Dollar.
The corporation is targeted at creating the system that will allow people to send a huge amount of money without the participation of intermediaries. The project is still in its early phases, although IBM has already held negotiations with central banks, such as US Federal Reserve, regarding the new payment system.
Polina is an undergraduate student at Belarusian State Economic University (BSEU) where she is studying at the faculty of International Business Communication for a degree specializing in Intercultural Communication. In her spare time she enjoys drawing, music and travelling.
