ALTOONA, Pa. — Sheetz announced Tuesday it will begin accepting digital currency payments like Bitcoin, Ether, Litecoin, Dogecoin and others at its gas pumps and in its stores through Flexa, the leading pure-digital payments network.
The Altoona-based company said it is the first major convenience store chain to accept digital currency as a form of payment.
“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," said Sheetz payments manager Linda Smith. "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."
Sheetz said it will begin accepting digital currencies using Flexa’s instant, scalable, and carbon-neutral payments technology at select Sheetz Cafe Stores later this summer with a planned roll out later in the year for acceptance at Sheetz’s fuel pumps, as well.
Sheetz currently operates 622 stores in Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Ohio and Maryland. Sheetz customers will also have the option to link their My Sheetz Rewardz loyalty account when paying with 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.”
To seamlessly enable Flexa’s instant, fraud-proof authorization process for digital currency payments, Sheetz turned to its relationship with NCR, its point-of-sale technology partner.
“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.
Sheetz customers who would like to be informed when Sheetz payments are available on Flexa can download a Flexa-enabled app at flexa.app or follow Flexa on Twitter at @FlexaHQ.
