Atupri is the first Swiss insurance to accept crypto-currencies
The health insurance company Atupri enables customers to pay their bills with Bitcoin and Ether. The health and accident insurance takes thereby the pioneer’s role in Switzerland concerning the payment possibilities with crypto-currencies.
As the first Swiss health insurance company, Atrupi also accepts Bitcoin and Ether. Caroline Meli, member of the Atrupi management board, justifies this decision by saying that the health insurance company wants to “strengthen its position as an innovative provider of digital solutions in the health sector”. The option of paying bills in crypto-currencies such as Bitcoin or Ether will be offered from August 31, 2020.
“Our policyholder base is digitally affine and we assume that it meets an increasing customer need to be able to pay with crypto-currencies” – Caroline Meli, Member of the Atupri Management Board.
Cooperation with Bitcoin Suisse
Atupri, which had more than 200,000 policyholders at the beginning of 2020, offers the new payment method in cooperation with Bitcoin Suisse AG. With this innovative step, Atupri and its customers would hardly take any risks.
“Our partner Bitcoin Suisse is subject to the Financial Market Authority Finma, and we have clarified our plans in detail with the Federal Office of Public Health and Finma in advance” – Caroline Meli
No crypto-currencies in the inventory
Atupri itself owns no crypto-currencies. The insured will receive the current exchange rate when making the payment. This is always guaranteed by Bitcoin Suisse in Swiss francs and is transmitted accordingly. The currency risk is thus borne by Bitcoin Suisse and a possible currency risk for the health insurance company can be avoided. Atupri therefore, does not offer the possibility of receiving payments or repayments in Bitcoin or Ether from the customer’s perspective.
In order to make payments in crypto-currencies, Atupri customers receive a link via QR code, which they can use to execute payments via their crypto wallet.
