Swiss rail operator to sell bitcoins at its ticket machines

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-swiss-rail-bitcoin-idUSKCN12S1KR

by huhtenberg • 10 years ago

139 37 10 years ago

rmoriz• 10 years ago

It is not possible to buy/pay something at SBB with bitcoins and a customer needs to provide a mobile phone number/personal ID and is also limited to buy 5000 CHF per year due to anti money laundering rules.

Further information: http://www.sbb.ch/en/station-services/services/further-servi...

IMHO It's (just) a proof of concept of SBB to launch selling complex 3rd party products (think: platform services) using their ticket machines, not so much about Bitcoin.

skrebbel• 10 years ago

Wouldn't there be easier things to sell then instead of bitcoin? Like iTunes credit or pre-paid phone codes? There has to be a reason beyond "look we're a generalized automated point of sale!" to choose bitcoin?

ar0• 10 years ago

The SBB Ticket machines already sell pre-paid phone top-ups and Paysafecards (cards that can be used for payment in some online shops). So this is really just adding another vendor (SweePay) to this platform.

jb6133• 10 years ago

I suspect that selling iTunes credit or pre-paid phone codes requires adhering to all kinds of rules and agreements set by the corporations (Apple, phone corps). You can't simply build a box and slap iTunes logo on the outside - there's Trademarks involved. Then there's the government regulations and taxes to comply with.

Contrast that with bitcoin - no corporations to deal with, no government rules&regulations and paperwork - all you really need is an Internet connection and and simple digital signatures.

So no - I don't think iTunes or pre-paid phone codes are easier to sell than bitcoin.

cloudjacker5• 10 years ago

"To test Switzerland appetite for bitcoin"

It will more likely test the appetite for a poor user experience, high spreads and fees and be a conclusion that people don't have much appetite for cryptocurrency

atemerev• 10 years ago

I'd say it fits closely to Swiss values. On international level, bank secrecy is less a thing than it was in the past, but nationally, for Swiss citizens, nobody can know the details of one's bank account. Even the Swiss tax authorities. Also, you can buy and sell gold bars anonymously here (I did it once with 100g bar in my bank — no questions were asked and no papers needed).

So, why not Bitcoin.

cloudjacker5• 10 years ago

yeah you are talking about the concept of bitcoin, I am talking about the concept of putting bitcoin in an antiquated vending machine for buying train tickets (has any one of those EVER impressed you?), one which has a 500 franc daily limit for buying bitcoin (5000 franc yearly limit), and using it to gauge people's interest in bitcoin on a national level

this is an "OOPS" almost as big as when your company spends two hours thinking of a hashtag that nobody will ever use.

sschueller2• 10 years ago

Just some more info:

These machines are everywhere. Here is an image: http://www.toponline.ch/uploads/pics/sbb_automaten_neu2.jpg

Daily limit appears to be CHF 500.- which is around USD 500.-

SBB Info Page: http://www.sbb.ch/en/station-services/services/further-servi...

There are already a few Bitcoin ATMs that don't require any ID. https://www.bitcoinsuisse.ch/en/bitcoin-atm-network/

jb6133• 10 years ago

If not ID is required then why (and how do they enforce):

   "The maximum for unregistered clients is 5'000 CHF/EUR per day"

https://www.bitcoinsuisse.ch/en/explanation/#p1_4

mrb3• 10 years ago

If it's anywhere like in the US, then some of those operators who don't check for ID simply choose to not enforce the limits.

ianpurton• 10 years ago

I'm a Bitcoin fan boy but this sounds crazy.

gnode• 10 years ago

Can you explain why it sounds crazy to you?

kylebenzle• 10 years ago

Can't believe we are going on almost 10 years with bitcoin and we are just now getting the public on board.

JBReefer2• 10 years ago

I'll take basically any USD-denominated bet that says Bitcoin will never be more than 5% of real-world transactions by volume in any country in the world.

snovv_crash• 10 years ago

Well considering that the blockchain can't support the transaction rate, I'd say you're taking a very safe bet there.

jb6133• 10 years ago

The reason you will lose that bet is the "any country". In some less developed countries, inflation is out of control (govt sees money printing as the only solution) bitcoin as measured against their currency is rising. Daily. Couple that with the fact that those same places do ironically have high mobile phone usage, and it's only a matter of time until it's surpassed 5%.

EthanHeilman• 10 years ago

If Bitcoin was 5% of transaction volume it would be an amazing success. Even a 2% (assuming a country with a medium sized economy) would be massively game changing. I believe 2% transaction share is at least possible in the next tens years.

KKKKkkkk1• 10 years ago

Maybe let's start with selling USD at a reasonable commission, and then move on to the more advanced stuff.

usrusr• 10 years ago

I suspect that those machines lack a sufficiently advanced printer without a hardware upgrade.

wh0rth• 10 years ago

This is a proof of concept to be sure. But I worry that the UX of the whole thing will get in the way of what's truly valuable about Bitcoin

camiller• 10 years ago

That will certainly make it easier for average folks to comply with ransom-ware demands.

mywittyname2• 10 years ago

Hopefully the payment processor institutes some form of check or delay into the process so that funds can be refunded in the event of fraud.

mrb3• 10 years ago

Speaking of Bitcoin, looks like we are at the early stage of yet another bubble. Up +200% in the last year. Up +25% in the last 2 months.

cloudjacker5• 10 years ago

Exchange rate aside, due to the greater abundance of bitcoins since the last bubble, the market cap is actually near all time highs.

tribaal3• 10 years ago

The Swiss railways is kind of used to non-fiat money already - they already (co-)print and maintain their own alternative: the reka cheques http://www.reka.ch/en/rekamoney/privatepersons/reka-checks/S...

There machines all already accept Swiss cash, euros, reka, and all modern electronic payment forms. Adding bitcoin exchange possibilities doesn't seem like such a stretch (it's a software-only change).

md_• 10 years ago

Huh? Reka is fiat. It's just that the fiat is Reka's, not that of the SNB. ;)

anentropic• 10 years ago

Why?

droopyEyelids• 10 years ago

This will be a dangerous egress point for scams attacking the elderly.

Right now scammers seem to be defaulting to annoying but fungible instruments like iTunes gift cards.

It's going to be a lot worse when they can direct grandma to go to the train station and turn her pension into Bitcoin

cloudjacker5• 10 years ago

ransomware has been using bitcoin for the last 3 years

mywittyname2• 10 years ago

But you can't buy tickets (or anything else here) with BC? Buying them has never really been the issue, it's actually using them for something that's difficult.

Swiss rail operator to sell bitcoins at its ticket machines

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