Kroger is an important US retailer and what they just did might set a precedent.
They are no longer accepting Visa credit cards at the chain of Smith’s food and drug stores.
Anthony Pompliano hopped on Twitter and offered to hook them up with Bitcoin’s Lightning Network.
Kroger is the largest supermarket chain by revenue and the third largest employer in the US.
It’s also the third largest retailer in the whole world; that’s what makes this move a critical one.
Visa card, no longer accepted
Last Friday, Kroger announced that they are not accepting Visa credit cards anymore due to high fees, reports Bitcoinist.
The Smith’s chain includes 134 food and drug stores across seven states in the US, and they boast 20,000 employees.
Kroger CFO, Mike Schlotman said that the card fees charged by Visa are higher at Smith’s compared to any other credit card bank.
He said, “Visa has been misusing its position and charging retailers excessive fees for a long time.”
It’s true that Visa is actually due to increase fees for the banks processing card payments on behalf of merchants in April.
Pompliano saw the occasion and tweeted “Who knows someone on the leadership team there?”
He continued “The Morgan Creek Digital team will fly to meet them and get them hooked up with the Lightning Network nationwide.”
A few hours later, a product manager from Kroger Digital responded.
https://twitter.com/APompliano/status/1101651904940134400
XRP, a better option?
The Ripple community also saw the occasion and suggested that XRP is a better choice because the Lightning Network is not quite ready.
https://twitter.com/TomDunn20/status/1101695560216690688
Ripple has been trying really hard lately to enhance the adoption of its products, especially XRP.
https://twitter.com/TomDunn20/status/1101698554568028166
Euro Exim Bank, for instance, ditched the traditional payment system that has been used by banks for decades, SWIFT, for Ripple‘s xRapid, a product which is powered by XRP.
