Bitcoins-While-U-Wait: Swiss Railways To Sell Crypto-Currency at Ticket Machines

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Railway passengers in Switzerland will be able to buy Bitcoins with their train tickets, thanks to a trial scheme by Swiss Federal Railways (SBB).

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Swiss railway passengers will be able to buy bitcoins at their leisure, after Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) opted to allow the sale of bitcoin at ticket machines, the operator announced on Friday.

The two-year pilot project starts on November 11, and will enable railway passengers to buy Bitcoin at over 1,000 ticket machines across Switzerland. 

"With more than 1,000 ticket machines across Switzerland, SBB has a dense network of distribution which is accessible round the clock and suitable not only for purchasing tickets but allows additional services too," stated SBB.

SBB is teaming up with Swiss payment operator Sweepay to provide the service, which will allow passengers to buy up to 500 Swiss francs ($505) worth of Bitcoin in a single transaction.

Until now, anybody wanting to buy Bitcoin had to do so via an online marketplace, which requires an ordinary bank account. 

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The Swiss ticket machines will enable anybody with a mobile phone number and QR code scanner to buy the crypto-currency directly, using the mobile top-up function. 

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Users of the Swiss ticket machines will have to pay a commission of six percent to buy Bitcoin, although it remains unclear which proportion goes to SBB or Sweepay.

Although the rail operator will not accept Bitcoin as payment for rail tickets, the deal to allow their purchase at rail stations demonstrates growing acceptance of the digital currency in Switzerland.

Earlier this year the Swiss town of Zug became the world's first to accept Bitcoin payments. On July 1 the municipal government launched a six-month pilot scheme allowing Zug residents to make payments of up to 200 Swiss francs ($202) to the local authority, in Bitcoin.

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