Chipotle Wants Customers To Buy Its Quesadillas With Cryptocurrency
In an effort to diversify its payment options, Chipotle is now allowing customers to pay with their cryptocurrency of choice.
Despite the recent nosedive that the valuation of many cryptocurrencies took, public utilization of the decentralized currency has remained relatively strong. Hence, the rise in public adoption and investment is still on the rise. Retailers looking to draw in more consumers are beginning to capitalize on the crypto boom by offering it as a payment option in their stores. Now the ever-popular fast-casual restaurant Chipotle is hopping on the crypto bandwagon, too. The chain is now offering its patrons the option to pay for their quesadillas and whatever else they might be craving in crypto.
Chipotle’s ability to accept cryptocurrencies as payment for their burritos and other Mexican favorites was made possible by a new partnership between the chain and a company called Flexa. Through partnering with Flexa, customers will now be able to pay Chipotle with their cryptocurrency of choice including the more well-known bitcoin, ether, and dogecoin. Curt Garner, Chief Technology Officer at Chipotle said via Gizmodo that the joint venture with Flexa emerged as a result of the company continually looking for ways to improve the customer’s overall experience. “We are constantly exploring innovation that will enhance our guest experience, and that includes now accepting digital currency payments with Flexa in Chipotle’s U.S. restaurants,” communicated Garner.
Flexa will essentially serve as the middleman for Chipotle, converting crypto into the currency best suited for Chipotle’s business operations. From that angle, it’s a win for both crypto holders and the restaurant chain. Flexa described the details regarding how to utilize their payment system at Chipotle in a blog post. To get started consumers first have to download a Flexa-enabled app (Gemini or SPEDN). Then customers have to connect their crypto wallets to those apps via a separate app where their crypto wallets are digitally housed. Once everything is connected the whole process works similarly to other contactless payment methods like Apple Pay. To purchase their food, a customer simply has to open the Flexa-enabled app and have it scanned. It’s as easy as one, two, three. Those curious to see for themselves how the process works can watch a video that was posted on Twitter below.
Chipotle certainly deserves a nod for being daring in its attempt to further diversify its payment options. However, the thing is, by using the Flexa app customers technically aren’t paying with crypto. Flexa is simply taking that crypto and converting it to a currency that Chipotle can utilize. The underlying message here is that businesses are far from actually accepting crypto in its raw state. That could be contributed to the instability of the cryptocurrencies overall.
Regardless of the reason though, it points to the fact that crypto has a long way to go before it is embraced like the dollar (if it does ever make it that far). At the end of the day, however, it is always nice to have options. If you happen to be a crypto holder and want to give using Flexa at Chipotle a try, there might not be a better time to do so. As an incentive, Flexa is offering patrons 10% off their purchase at Chipotle when they pay with Flexa for the first time.
