German Energy Giant Enercity Accepts Bitcoin Payments

German energy giant Enercity recently announced that residents of Hanover (German city) can use virtual currency to pay their energy bills. As for how many customers will accept Bitcoin as a bill payment method, Enercity said that time will tell.

Announcing the news, Enercity CEO Dr. Susanna Zapreva said that digitization has permeated every aspect of their customers’ daily lives, and accepting Bitcoin payments is just the first step towards a digital future.

In addition, Enercity’s official statement also mentioned that digitalization has changed the entire economic environment, including the energy sector. Therefore, Enercity believes that in the future, all kinds of systems, transactions and networks will be decentralized, and will eventually be completely separated from centralized institutions and operate independently.

Bitcoin is the best choice to realize this decentralized payment system.

Enercity (Stadtwerke Hannover AG) is a government public service enterprise in Hannover, Germany, mainly responsible for providing electricity, gas, heating and drinking water. It currently has about 2,500 employees and a turnover of 2.3 billion euros, making it one of the top ten energy companies in Germany.

Enercity considers virtual currency as a regular payment method from the perspective of a global payment system, and has therefore established a partnership with PEY GmbH, a Bitcoin payment company in Hanover.

Through direct debits in the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA), users with a bank account can buy Bitcoin directly on PEY. The new partnership between the German fintech and blockchain startup and Enercity will allow Hanover customers to pay their electricity, gas, heating and drinking water bills directly with Bitcoin.

In addition to the special payment code for Enercity invoices that will take effect this month, PEY payment terminals will be installed at Enercity’s customer service office in the city center and at its headquarters building, welcoming all customers who wish to pay with Bitcoin.

Enercity said that this new payment option aims to set a new standard for customer service. This decision is very important because Bitcoin payments are not restricted by geography, as long as there is an Internet connection and a Bitcoin wallet. At the same time, in stark contrast to the centralized bank processing system, Bitcoin transfers are carried out in a centralized computer network (P2P).