Pay-TV Provider DISH Now Accepts Bitcoin Cash as Payment Option

DISH, a US subscription model pay-TV provider, announced on Thursday that it has added Bitcoin Cash as a payment option. To achieve this, the company is now using BitPay, a global blockchain payments provider, to process its customer’s Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash transactions.

DISH was the first subscription-based pay-TV provider to accept Bitcoin in 2014. So the addition of Bitcoin Cash is in line with the company’s willingness to allow its customers to pay for its service using cryptocurrencies. Now clients of the company can use both cryptocurrencies to pay for their monthly subscriptions, pay-per-view movies, and events.

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Commenting on the addition of Bitcoin Cash as a payment method, John Swieringa, the executive vice president and chief operating officer at DISH said: “we’ve added Bitcoin Cash just as we chose to accept Bitcoin to serve customers who have adopted a new way of doing business.”

“We have a steady volume of customers paying with cryptocurrency each month, and BitPay will allow us to continue offering more choice and convenience to our customers.”

In addition to allowing its customers to pay their monthly subscriptions using Bitcoin Cash, the company is leaving its former payment processor for BitPay. According to the statement, BitPay exchanges the cryptocurrency payments to US dollars at the moment of the transaction. This reduces the risk of price fluctuation between the payment being made and the currency exchange.

Sonny Singh, the Chief Commercial Officer with BitPay, noted: “Our goal for DISH Network is a seamless transition to BitPay so all customers who are currently paying for services with Bitcoin continue to have the option to pay with Bitcoin or Bitcoin Cash. Cryptocurrency is an increasingly popular way for consumers to make purchases online as it reduces credit card fraud and is cheaper for the merchants.”

The CFO of DISH steps down

DISH also announced today that its Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Steven Swain has resigned, effective from August 22, 2018. Swain’s departure ends his seven-year tenure with the satellite pay-TV company.

Swain initially joined the company as vice president of corporate financial planning and analysis in 2011. He also served as the principal financial officer of both the Dish Network and Dish DBS.

Swain will be leaving the company for Brookdale Senior Living Inc, where he will be the CFO from September 4, 2018. DISH also announced that it has designated Paul Orban as the principal financial officer of Dish Network and Dish DBS effective August 22, 2018.