Volksbank Bayern Mitte puts Bitcoin ATMs into operation

In the branches of Volksbank Bayern Mitte, especially the main branch in Ingolstadt, you can now purchase the cryptocurrency at Bitcoin machines. With this, the branch is implementing the plan that had already been envisioned in April 2022.

Volksbank Bayern Mitte with Bitcoin vending machine

Marija Kolak, president of the Federal Association of Volks- und Raiffeisenbanken, saw a need for Bitcoin ATMs as early as April of this year, which could be used to stand out from other banks. Corresponding prototypes were already extensively tested at that time.

As the Volksbank Raiffeisenbank Bayern Mitte eG communicates in a press release via PDF, corresponding Bitcoin ATMs are now available in Ingolstadt, among other places, since June 30, 2022. Anyone who pays a visit to the branch in Ludwigstraße in Ingolstadt can exchange euro banknotes for bitcoins in the foyer there, simply and easily, as well as around the clock.

“The Bitcoin machine is particularly suitable for beginners and novices without much previous experience to familiarize themselves with the cryptocurrency,” reveals Andreas Streb, the deputy chairman of the board of Volksbank Raiffeisenbank Bayern Mitte eG.

Prerequisite for the use of the Bitcoin machine are a personal registration and a crypto wallet as a storage medium, the so-called wallet. However, a corresponding wallet app on the smartphone is also sufficient here. Customers of the bank can also use the new VR-BitcoinGoCard for this purpose, the bank writes.

• More: Bitcoin price falls below 20,000 US dollars – cryptocurrencies in free fall

Minimum exchange value and fees

For authentication, a QR code is created, through which the machine then communicates the address of the wallet. At a minimum, customers must exchange an equivalent value of 50 euros in the process.

The use of the vending machine is also accompanied by a fee of 8.1 percent. The conversion to Bitcoin is supposed to be completed within 10 minutes. However, the conversion does not take place at Volksbank Bayern Mitte itself, but is handled by Kurant.

Registration with its Spot 9 service is a prerequisite for using the Bitcoin ATM. The legitimation takes place via IDnow VideoIdent. A German ID card or foreign passport with a valid registration certificate is required for this.

This is clear from the additional information on the homepage of the bank, where they also provide further details and answer common questions.

Volksbank Bayern Mitte is thus taking a pioneering position in the field of crypto trading and is launching earlier than other offshoots of the bank. After the savings bank also initially considered a corresponding trading solution for the cryptocurrency, they backed away from the idea of Bitcoin trading at the end of June 2022, as FinanzFWD reports.