US retail giant, Kroger, has decided to discontinue accepting Visa credit cards at its chain of Smith’s food and drug stores. So Anthony Pompliano tweeted an offer for the firm to join Bitcoin’s Lightning Network nationwide.
Network Fees - Not Accepted Here
It all started this Friday when Kroger announced the move to discontinue accepting Visa credit cards, citing excessive network fees charged by them. The Smith’s chain comprises 134 food and drug stores across 7 states, employing a 20,000 staff in total.
Card fees charged by Visa are much higher at Smith’s than any other credit card brand, explained Kroger CFO, Mike Schlotman:
Visa has been misusing its position and charging retailers excessive fees for a long time.
Problem And The Solution
In the circumstances, it was natural for somebody to suggest a crypto alternative, and Anthony Pompliano rose to the occasion. “Who knows someone on the leadership team there?” he tweeted.
"The Morgan Creek Digital team will fly to meet them and get them hooked up with the Lightning Network nationwide."
A couple of hours later a product manager from Kroger Digital tweeted a response and set up a conversation with him.
Obviously, the Ripple army had to dive right onto this,and that is what really happened, questioning Lightning Network’s readiness, and suggesting XRP as a better alternative for Kroger. More interestingly, someone suggested selling Smith’s gift-cards on BitRefill, which would certainly make a zero effort stop-gap solution.
The Icing On The Cake
But this is a very big deal. Smith’s is the second Kroger brand to stop accepting Visa credit cards now after Foods Co. supermarkets in California stopped accepting Visa cards. Successful implementation of a Lightning Network payment solution at the retailer could lead to a wider public roll-out across Kroger brands.
Kroger is the largest supermarket chain by revenue and the third largest employer in the United States, along with it the third largest retailer in the world. As of December 2018, it operated 2,765 supermarkets and multi-department stores across the United States, either directly or through subsidiaries.
Ripple army excepted, I’m sure there is a high level of confidence and seriousness in Pompliano and Morgan Creek Digital to make this work.
And Visa… you only have yourself to blame!
Will major retailers like Kroger accept Bitcoin and Lightning Network for their payments? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
Posted from my blog with SteemPress : https://cryptx.eu.com/major-us-retailer-kroger-ditches-visa-now-considering-bitcoins-lightning-network/
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