Behind the scenes
«Diamonds or gold are better suited to get rid of illicit money»
by Patrick McEvily
Cryptocurrencies now accepted on digitec and Galaxus
19.3.2019
Pictures: Thomas Kunz
Translation: Eva Francis
digitec and Galaxus have introduced cryptocurrencies as a method of payment. Customers of the largest Swiss online shop can now pay with Bitcoin as well as a number of Altcoins such as Ethereum, Ripple or Litecoin.
Update as of December 2023: Galaxus and Digitec have deactivated the payment option using cryptocurrencies. Demand was very low and the effort involved with the previous solution was disproportionately high. We are monitoring the market and will come up with a new solution as soon as the time is right.
Update from 16 August 2019: As of now, you can also use crypocurrencies to pay for orders below 200 francs.
As one of the first online shops in Switzerland, Digitec Galaxus now accepts cryptocurrencies: customers of the two online shops digitec and Galaxus can now use Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash ABC, Bitcoin Cash SV, Ethereum, Ripple (XRP), Binance Coin, Litecoin, TRON, NEO or OmiseGO to pay for all purchases with a total of over CHF 200.– or more. «Cryptocurrencies are fascinating and likely to become a relevant means of payment in e-commerce – we want to support this development,» says Oliver Herren, CIO and co-founder of Digitec Galaxus. «Of course I’m expecting all crypto millionaires in Switzerland to only buy from us in the future ;-).» There’s no lack of choice, that’s for sure: Digitec Galaxus currently offers around 2.7 million products; from shoehorns to wheat beer to gaming PCs.
The new payment method was co-developed as part of a pilot project with the Swiss e-payment specialist Datatrans AG. Datatrans AG cooperates with the Danish crypto payment provider Coinify. «So far, paying by cryptocurrencies hasn’t been viable for most people,» Hanspeter Maurer, Managing Director of Datatrans, explains. «We're keen to find out how digitec and Galaxus customers take up this offer.»
Steady exchange rate for 15 minutes
If customers of digitec and Galaxus choose the payment method «cryptocurrencies», the checkout process redirects them to a Coinify page where they’re asked to select the desired means of payment from a list. After this, customers receive a conversion rate that applies during 15 minutes as well as all payment details in text and QR code format. The customer then triggers the transaction with a so-called crypto wallet.
Digitec Galaxus does not charge any fees for payments made in cryptocurrencies. Coinify charges a fee of 1.5% of the purchase price via the conversion rate. Additional yet small transaction fees are incurred depending on the currencies and how quickly the transaction needs to be confirmed. Coinify usually confirms payments within a few minutes. The Coinify payment page always shows the latest payment status. «The technology is constantly improved,» states Datatrans boss Maurer, «faster and more cost-effective transactions are already in sight.»
Read more about how the Digitec Galaxus software engineers implemented the new payment method in this article or check out what our CIO Oliver Herren has to say in a short interview.
Find out more about crypto wallets here.
Images for free use
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CIO Oliver Herren
Contact for media representatives
Digitec Galaxus AG
Corporate Communications
Pfingstweidstrasse 60, CH-8005 Zurich
Phone: +41 44 575 96 96
E-mail: media@digitecgalaxus.ch
Alex Hämmerli
Senior Public Relations Manager
alex.haemmerli@digitecgalaxus.chAt Digitec and Galaxus, I’m in charge of communication with journalists and bloggers. Good stories are my passion – I am always up to date.