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NCR Says Merchants Prefer Bitcoin to Apple Pay

Last Updated March 4, 2021 4:41 PM
John Weru Maina
Last Updated March 4, 2021 4:41 PM
ApplePay
ApplePay

In another positive development for bitcoin, POS solutions provider NCR Silver has declared that Bitcoin has been the most well-received alternate method of payment by merchants. That is according to product manager Reggie Kimble.

Mr Kimble said that results show that their partnership with bitcoin payment processor Bitpay has so far attracted more attention from merchants that for all other comparable payment options such as Apple Pay and PayPal. He said that merchants seemed more proactive about bitcoin, and were found to be asking more questions about the cryptocurrency than with all the other payment options that the company has offered prior to this.

Watch and Learn Strategy

NCR Silver included bitcoin to its payment options in early November 2014, thereby allowing small merchants to accept bitcoin payments on their mobile POS systems. The inclusion of bitcoin comes almost two years since the time when the company enabled PayPal on its POS in January 2013. Mr Kimble says that the uptake of bitcoin payments by merchants has been a surprising one for a company that has been in the business of providing POS terminals, ATMs and other payment solutions for more than 100 years.

He further added that the company was going to adopt a “watch-and-learn” strategy about bitcoin, an attitude that would seem to characterize the approach adopted by other progressive companies and governments alike.

Mr Kimble also announced that NCR would be looking into opportunities for marketing the company such as sports events and other activities. For example, the company has announced plans to be “very involved” in the Bitcoin St Petersburg Bowl, an annual NCAA college football playoff game that will be sponsored by Bitpay in 2014. During the playoffs NCR plans to station their POS solution in the stadiums, and enable fans pay in bitcoin. Through these initiatives, Mr Kimble hopes that the company will be able to discover other opportunities that could be used to develop new products and services.

Monitoring Bitcoin from Afar

Before the partnership with BitPay, NCR Silver had been monitoring the uptake of bitcoin from afar. The company began to notice the huge numbers of small business owners interested in bitcoin. That group is what convinced Kimble that it was time for NCR Silver to adopt bitcoin, a move that he says was right for the brand.

What do you think of Bitcoin, Apple Pay and the future of mobile payments? Comment below!

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