Leading supermarket retailer, Pick n Pay, has enabled in-store crypto currency payments to allow shoppers to buy groceries with digital tokens such as bitcoin at 39 of its supermarkets across the country.
The decision comes after the successful first phase of a new pilot project that tested the use of crypto payments at 10 Western Cape stores over the past five months.
In the first pilot phase, the retailer tested a payment service technology that enables customers to buy groceries with cryptocurrency at till points with any Bitcoin Lightning-enabled app, such as BlueWallet or Muun.
“Increasingly cryptocurrency is being used by those under-served by traditional banking systems, or by those wanting to pay and exchange money in a cheaper and really convenient way. Many companies are responding to this by accepting Bitcoin,” Pick n Pay said in a statement.
Pick n Pay has partnered with Electrum and CryptoConvert on its latest pilot. Electrum’s payment platform connects Pick n Pay and Cryptoconvert which converts bitcoin to rand, letting customers pay with the Bitcoin Lightning technology at the till point.
To make a payment, customers will scan a QR code from the app and accept the Rand conversion rate on their smartphone at the time of the transaction.
“Crypto payments are still in their infancy in South Africa, but we are already seeing adoption in parts of our society that haven’t previously had access to traditional financial systems,” said Carel van Wyk, Founder of CryptoConvert, which allows merchants to accept crypto payments.
The announcement comes weeks after the Financial Sector Conduct Authority formally declared crypto assets as a financial product in South Africa, enabling them to be regulated and clearing the way for cryptocurrency to be a mainstream method of payment.
The Pick n Pay Group is a retail business in the fast-moving consumer goods industry. The Group operates through multiple store formats under three brands – Pick n Pay, Boxer and TM Supermarkets. Pick n Pay also operates one of the largest online grocery platforms in sub-Saharan Africa.
