Jim Gaherity, the CEO of American coin-cashing machine company Coinstar, believes the future of payments and financial systems rely heavily on digitizing cash – fiat currency to be specific. His company offers multiple services in smart machines, one of which is the Bitcoin buying opportunity with cash.
Gaherity, in a recent interview with Pymnts, talked about the impacts of COVID-19 pandemic on the retail shops. But he believes grocery traffic is on the rise again. The CEO points at the reduction of foot traffic as a significant influencer on the volume of purchases in his company. But he says people are looking to use more digital payment solutions and currencies that have increased Bitcoin purchases in Coinstar machines.
With the reduction in foot traffic, we had had a reduction in volume. It has not been significant. What we have seen increased significantly is the bitcoin purchases. In fact, our bitcoin sales on our machines have increased dramatically week over week for the last 10 to 12 weeks.
Coinstar started the operation to offer gift-cards and other financial products to users as a change for their useless coins. It later added support for Bitcoin buying with cash. The company now operates more than 4,500 kiosks that provide the option, using Coinme API.
It looks to grow the business to more international operations. Europe is the first destination that Coinstar execs have in mind for business growth. The recent 62.5% increase in the number of Bitcoin ATMs shows this market is on a significant rise and has massive potential for companies like Coinstar.
The opportunity to buy Bitcoin with cash that Coinstar offers to customers makes it possible for them to enter the cryptocurrency community faster. Gaherity believes today is the time for a digital transformation in the financial sector, and customers prefer to use digital currencies, more than ever.
Coinstar is not the only payment company that has experienced a significant growth resulted from Bitcoin. Square, the fintech company under the leadership of Twitter’s Jack Dorsey, reported eye-opening revenue growth in Q2 2020.
Square offers a payment application called Cash App. Users can buy bitcoin with the app, which recorded a 600% growth in revenue from Bitcoin in Q2 2020. The gross profit also increased by 711% to $17 million YoY. Cash App solutions for crypto enthusiasts make it easier for them to buy Bitcoin with traditional currencies and other offers like P2P payments and commission-free stock trading make it a comprehensive financial application.
