One of the biggest grocery chains in South Africa, Pick n Pay, plans to let customers use Bitcoin to pay for goods across all of its locations.
After years of testing in a few stores, Pick N Pay intends to expand its bitcoin payments service to all of its locations in the coming months.
The grocery store chain purportedly began experimenting with Bitcoin payments in Cape Town five years ago, but was thwarted by high expenses and protracted transaction wait times.
Customers will be able to use “trusted apps” on their cellphones to pay for things using cryptocurrencies through the statewide deployment, or by simply scanning a QR code and agreeing to the rand conversion rate at the time of purchase.
According to the report, Chris Shortt, the group executive for IT at Pick n Pay, stated that due to the development and evolution of cryptocurrency technology over time, it is now possible to “provide an affordable service for high volume, low-value transactions that will promote financial inclusion in South Africa.”
During its test program, Pick n Pay allegedly collaborated with Electrum and CryptoConvert to enable clients to make purchases via the bitcoin lightning network.
When it comes to the acceptance of cryptocurrencies in the African continent, South Africa seems to be making progress. By defining crypto assets in the nation as financial goods, South Africa’s Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) revised its financial guidance in October, enabling the sale of cryptocurrencies by both domestic and foreign South African-licensed financial service providers.
South Africa was placed 30th globally for bitcoin adoption according to Chainalysis’ 2022 Global Crypto Adoption Index, which was released in September. According to various estimates, between 10 and 13 percent of South Africans are crypto investors.
