One Virginia bank says it has become the first commercial financial institution in the country to let users buy and redeem the digital currency known as Bitcoin at its automated teller machines.
Charlottesville-based Blue Ridge Bank announced Wednesday Feb. 10 that it now provides access to Bitcoin at its 19 ATM locations, both at its branches and off-site ATMs.
Blue Ridge Bank’s top executive said he believes the bank is the first in the country to offer the service, and it is doing so in response to what bank officials see as growing demand for Bitcoin, a type of cryptocurrency developed first in 2009 as an alternative to conventional currencies such as the U.S. dollar.
“We try to be forward-looking with what we are doing and anticipate our customers’ needs - both present and future customers,” said Brian K. Plum, the chief executive officer of Blue Ridge Banks and its parent company, Blue Ridge Bankshares Inc.
To offer the service, Blue Ridge Banks has partnered with BluePoint ATM Solutions, a national ATM operator based in Woodstock, Va., and LibertyX, the leading U.S. Bitcoin ATM software provider based in Boston.
“Buying Bitcoin at an ATM is not new to ATMs - it is just new for a bank doing it,” said Justin Pence, chief operating officer at BluePoint ATM.
Hundreds of Bitcoin-only ATMs operate across the country, often at convenience stores. Typically at those locations, someone can only feed cash into the machine to buy Bitcoins.
But those using Blue Ridge Bank ATMs can buy Bitcoins and redeem the cryptocurrency for cash, said Wade Zirkle, the CEO of BluePoint ATM.
“With ours, you can purchase [Bitcoins] by using your debt card balance and redeem [Bitcoins] with the cash spitting out in exchange. You can make Bitcoin transactions that settle in real time,” he said. “Our software is layered on top of the traditional cash dispensing software at ATMs.”
In order to use the Bitcoin service at Blue Ridge Bank’s ATM, customers must have the LibertyX app on their mobile phones and a “digital wallet” that is used to store Bitcoin.
Anyone can use the bank’s ATM to buy and sell Bitcoins as long as their ATM card is accepted much like how most ATMs work regardless of who your financial institution is, Zirkle said. The Bitcoin service, which began last week, is not just for Blue Ridge Bank customers.
The bank’s ATMs remain able to serve cash-based and account inquiry activity, so adding the Bitcoin exchange feature is “simply layering on more services” for customers, Blue Ridge Bank’s Plum said.
“A lot of financial institutions are skittish about Bitcoins, but Blue Ridge Bank is leading financial innovation,” Zirkle said.
BluePoint ATM Solutions specializes in providing outsourced ATM services to community banks and credit unions across the U.S.
Zirkle said his company wants to be a leader in the area of fintech - or financial technology - because the company expects that more customers of community banks and credit unions will demand those types of services at their branches.
As one example of the demand for Bitcoin, the companies pointed out the announcement this week that electric car maker Tesla has bought $1.5 billion in Bitcoin and will start accepting the cryptocurrency as payment, becoming the first automaker to accept the cryptocurrency.
Earlier this month, Blue Ridge Bankshares completed a merger with Henrico County-based Bay Banks of Virginia Inc., the parent holding company of Virginia Commonwealth Bank.
Once Virginia Commonwealth Bank branches and computer systems are converted into Blue Ridge’s systems, most likely in May, the Bitcoin feature should be available at those branches. Virginia Commonwealth Bank has 17 banking offices in the Richmond region, the Northern Neck region, Middlesex County and the Hampton Roads area.
Plum said the Bitcoin move follows Blue Ridge Bank’s other innovative business decisions, such as becoming the first bank in the U.S. to offer prize-linked savings accounts that offered financial rewards for opening accounts, which were intended to incentivize individuals to increase their personal savings in competition with buying lottery tickets. Blue Ridge Bank began offering its Jackpot Savings Account on July 1 2015, the first day banks in Virginia were eligible to do so.
Me dirá que es para dar seguridad y confianza pero medios más económicos ¿seguro que no hay?