Altoona-based Sheetz, a mid-Atlantic restaurant and convenience chain, announced Thursday that it will enable digital currency payments via Flexa, the pure-digital payments network, which will allow customers to pay for items or fill up their automobiles using digital currency.
The company will begin accepting digital currencies using Flexa’s instant, scalable and climate-neutral payments technology at select Sheetz Café Stores later this summer, with a planned rollout to Sheetz’s fuel pumps scheduled for later this year.
“Above all else, our mission at Sheetz is to continue providing our customers with the ultimate one-stop-shop where they can refuel their car and refresh their body. As a result, we are constantly innovating and exploring new offerings to truly give our customers what they want, when they want it, 24/7/365 — that includes accepting many forms of payment. We’re very excited to be working with Flexa to roll out support for cryptocurrencies and other types of digital assets at our stores,” said Linda Smith, Payments Manager for Sheetz.
Sheetz currently operates 622 stores in Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Ohio, and Maryland. Sheetz customers will also be able to link their My Sheetz Rewardz accounts to the Flexa-enabled apps.
“With interest in digital currencies reaching all-time highs, it’s easy to lose sight of the fact that there are real, tangible benefits for the merchants who accept them—not only reduced fraud and cost savings, but also a better and more mobile customer experience,” said Trevor Filter, co-founder of Flexa. “Sheetz is one of the most forward-thinking brands in the business and understands their customer base better than anyone else. We’re absolutely elated that Flexa can help them become the first convenience and retail chain to accept digital currencies directly at the pump.”
Sheetz will work with NCR, its point-of-sale technology provider, to seamlessly enable Flexa’s instant, fraud-proof authorization process for digital currency payments.
“Connecting through the existing POS solution to the NCR payment gateway enables retailers to quickly integrate new solutions making it easy to introduce new innovations enabled by digital currencies. Retailers benefit through increased loyalty, lower transaction fees, and reduced fraud while improving convenience and choice for shoppers,” said Tim Vanderham, Chief Technology Officer of NCR.
The partnership between the three companies marks the first time digital currencies have been accepted for convenience store purchases and expands the utility of digital currency use for everyday purchases.