France-based Isilines, a bus and coach transport company, has announced that it is accepting bitcoin for the first time in the world for payment of bus tickets.

According to a public transport and mobility portal MobiliCites, Isilines has become the first company in the sector to set up this type of payment which has been operational since August 2, 2016, on the company website.

“Now, and for the first time in the world, you can pay in bitcoins on isilines place for all your bus rides. Isilines innovative means of payment allows you to pay securely in bitcoins,” the company website stated (loosely translated).

Itespresso.fr reported that the bitcoin payment system is committed to process transactions in ten minutes with the immediate conversion of funds in Euros. This enables tourists to avoid exchange fees associated with card payments. The initiative by the company reflects a "state of mind" oriented innovation (loosely translated).

Isilines, the subsidiary of Transdev group has chosen this as a testing ground. The French startup uses Paymium exchange platform to manage the conversion of bitcoins into Euros. Paymium is seamless and secure payment platform that operates on blockchain technology. Additionally, its platform offers a unique service in compliance with European regulations on payment services.

"This new service is part of our breakthrough innovation policy,” Richard Dujardin, CEO of Transdev said in a statement reported by MobiliCites. “We believe that it takes an experience to learn and that is how we respond better to the new uses and expectations of our passengers.”