Brazilain Retail Chain Oásis Supermercados Adds Crypto Payment Options for BTC, BCH and LTC

Oásis Supermercados, a Rio de Janeiro based supermarket chain has recently announced that they have added crypto-based payment. Currently, they accept Bitcoin (BTC), Bitcoin Cash (BCH) and Litecoin (LTC) as the payment options.

The three cryptos will be accepted as payments along with fiat currency through cash, debit and credit cards. Payments are processed through crypto payments processor Coinwise. Once a customer chooses the cryptocurrency they want to use to make a purchase, the system receives the digital coins and converts them into the fiat equivalent. Coinwise will later send the Brazilian reals to the supermarket in three days.

Douglas Andrade revealed that his brother and co-manager Thiago picked up the idea of accepting digital currency payments from a video on the subject and consulted a cryptocurrency brokerage firm for more information.

He said:

“[It is] too easy. It is the same as the payment by [any] credit card. The client says which cryptocurrency he wants to pay [with], the operator types in reais and the system already converts to that crypto. Then just get the QR code and you’re done.”

Notably, the chain makes around 25 million reals ($6.45 million) in annual revenue, operating two stores with 90 workers, 20 of them cash operators. However, to date, no crypto purchase have been made. Although the company claims that this move has ignited popular interest which has led to a torrent of queries.

Although cryptos have not made a real impact in Brazil like most South American countries, there are recent instances where progress can be noted. A bike shop called Las Magrelas was a pioneer in crypto payments and it accepts payments in cryptos since 2013, way before Bitcoin was popular.

There are many others, though. For instance, Viação Garcia, a Brazilian road transport company, has also started to accept payments in the same three cryptos as Oasis Supermercados. Initially, only Bitcoin was accepted there, but the company decided to expand the offering to other similar tokens.

Other examples include Metrô Brasília, the subway system of the country’s capital and Tecnisa, a major construction company that gives the clients a discount of 5% if they make their payments using BTC.