If you’re hungry for a sandwich the next time you’re in Buenos Aires then perhaps head on over to a Subway restaurant and purchase your sub with bitcoins. Customers of two local Subway franchises can now pay for their subs with the peer-to-peer decentralized virtual currency.
Beginning this month, the owner of two Argentine Subway franchises will start accepting bitcoins as a method of payment. This will make it the first Subway franchise in Latin America to allow customers to pay with bitcoin, and the third worldwide behind Moscow and Allentown, Pennsylvania.
Fernando, who has owned the Subway restaurants for about two years now, spoke with the PanAm Post earlier this month and explained that he became interested in bitcoin late last year after an influx of customers just came from a bitcoin conference and purchased subs. He ultimately made the decision only this year after a bitcoin aficionado spoke with him.
“[It] was introduced by Agustín Aguilar, a member of BitPagos, the company that operates half a block from the Bitcoin Embassy Buenos Aires,” Fernando stated. “He approached me and asked if I knew what bitcoin was and why I didn’t accept it as payment. And I agreed.”
To confirm, the bitcoin acceptance decision was not something made by the entire multinational corporation but rather a business move incorporated by the franchise owner. “I have not yet analyzed the risks, but the most tempting part about it was the innovation involved. I think other businesses could follow.”
Although this has gained international headlines and could very well prompt more franchisees to follow, Fernando is cynical because most customers will not even notice the implementation. Also, it’s unnerving for Fernando due to the fact that he is only the third Subway restaurant owner to add bitcoin to its business model.
In the end, Fernando will just have to make some final adjustments and to train his employees. He noted that he is simply interested in bitcoin as a business opportunity instead of a personal investment.
In the last few months, a large number of major retailers announced that they would be allowing customers to pay for their goods and services with the digital currency. Dell, the Dish Network and Expedia are only some of the merchants to add bitcoin to their arsenal of payment methods. Wikipedia also became the largest non-profit organization to accept bitcoin contributions.
We reported earlier this month that one security expert believes most businesses will adopt bitcoin within the next five years.
Bitcoin has experienced a setback in the past week as its price as has dipped to under $500 for the first time in a few months. It also underwent a flash crash to around $300 on Monday before recuperating its losses and trading at $482 (at the time of this writing).
