Dell now accepting Bitcoin payments in the UK

published 20 February 2015

UK SMBs can now use bitcoins to pay for Dell products on its website, following the success of a pilot payment programme in the US involving the virtual currency.

The hardware giant first announced plans to include bitcoins on its list of accepted payment methods in July 2014, but the option was only being offered at that time to its US consumers and SMBs buying products via Dell.com.

However, the company has now confirmed that UK and Canadian SMBs can opt to pay for goods using bitcoins, thanks to an extension of the payment scheme.

In a blog post, announcing the news, the company said the US pilot had seen customers pay for a wide range of products using bitcoins, with one stumping up $50,000 worth of the crytocurrency for a PowerEdge server system.

"This form of payment is clearly resonating with consumer, small and medium businesses. And now we're excited to take the choice and flexibility this payment option offers global," the company said.

Dell is partnering with bitcoin payment processor Coinbase to offer the payment option to its customers, with the service allowing them to buy, store and spend the currency.

Dell claims to be the largest company in the world to accept bitcoin as payment method, although a number of other high-profile firms have moved to embrace it in recent times. For example, travel website Expedia.

Caroline Donnelly is the news and analysis editor of IT Pro and its sister site Cloud Pro, and covers general news, as well as the storage, security, public sector, cloud and Microsoft beats. Caroline has been a member of the IT Pro/Cloud Pro team since March 2012, and has previously worked as a reporter at several B2B publications, including UK channel magazine CRN, and as features writer for local weekly newspaper, The Slough and Windsor Observer. She studied Medical Biochemistry at the University of Leicester and completed a Postgraduate Diploma in Magazine Journalism at PMA Training in 2006.