On Tuesday, South Africa's largest retailer, Pick n Pay, announced that its customers can now make payments at some of its designated stores using cryptocurrencies. The announcement follows the successful completion of the first pilot phase that allows the retail store to support cryptocurrency payments.
Pick n Pay customers can then use supported cryptocurrencies to pay for products through their phones
The retail store has started testing the new payment function in several branches. Many retail stores in South Africa are starting to support cryptocurrency payments after the country's financial regulator approved digital currencies as a payment method.
Last month, the South African Financial Supervisory Authority (FSCA) officially announced that cryptocurrencies are financial products in the country. As a result, the authorities intend to release regulatory policies related to cryptocurrencies. Most importantly, the announcement paved the way for businesses to start supporting cryptocurrency payments for their goods and services.
According to the announcement, Pick n Pay stated that many companies now support payments in Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies because many bank-less and under-the-counter individuals are embracing cryptocurrencies. The statement added that some people are embracing cryptocurrencies because they are a less expensive and more convenient way to pay for goods or services and to exchange money.
The most recent pilot phase of Pick n Pay was a test for the use of a payment service technology that will allow customers to use digital currencies and pay for groceries at the checkout with the Bitcoin lightning app such as Muun and Bluewallet.
The payment process is simple - customers scan a QR code from the app and pay the Bitcoin equivalent of the Rand amount for any merchandise purchased. On average, the service charge for each transaction is 70 cents, while the process takes only 30 seconds to complete.
Pick n Pay cryptocurrency payment support
Pick n Pay has been experimenting with cryptocurrency payments across ten outlets in the Western Cape over a 5-month period. The retail store plans to extend the pilot test to an additional 29 stores before rolling out the function to all other stores in the country in the coming months.
Pick n Pay says they have been planning to launch this feature for some time. Five years ago, the store tested a similar function in the canteen of its Cape Town headquarters. However, the technology available at the time made no economic sense.
Also, the transaction took too long to complete. Consequently, it was not sustainable. However, Pick n Pay Group Head of Technology and Information Chris Shortt commented that the store is now able to provide high volume and cheaper services to South Africans thanks to the new technology.
He also added that the move will increase financial inclusion for many residents across the country. The retail store giant is launching its new test phase in partnership with Cryptoconvert and Electrum. Cryptoconvert connects to Pick n Pay through the Electrum payment platform.
In this way, the store's customers can use Bitcoin lightning technology to make payments at the checkout. Cryptoconvert founder Carel Van Wyk said cryptocurrency payments are still relatively new to South Africa, but their adoption is growing rapidly.
Meanwhile, the price of BTC has dropped 0,87% in the past 24 hours to one quotation of 20.514 dollars. Several factors affect the movement of the BTC price, aside from the adoption of cryptocurrencies or cryptocurrency payments.
