In this episode of TechCentral, Duncan McLeod chats to Pick n Pay information systems executive Jason Peisl about the retailer’s bitcoin trial.
In the podcast, Peisl explains why Pick n Pay decided to test bitcoin payments at the point of sale.
He talks about what the company learnt from the trial and unpacks its future plans for accepting cryptocurrencies, including the regulatory challenges that first have to be overcome before such payment mechanisms can be offered commercially to customers.
In a statement posted on its website at the weekend, Cape Town-based specialist software payments development house Electrum said customers at Pick n Pay’s campus store at its head office were able to use the bitcoin cryptocurrency to purchase groceries and services.
“The checkout process is as simple as scanning a QR code using a bitcoin wallet app on the customer’s smartphone,” the statement said. See demonstration video from Electrum below, featuring Peisl making a bitcoin payment at the point of sale.
The checkout process is as simple as scanning a QR code using a bitcoin wallet app on the customer’s smartphone, Electrum said.
Electrum provided the cloud-based enterprise payments platform used for the transactions, while the bitcoin infrastructure for the project was provided by Luno, a bitcoin company active in Southeast Asia and Africa, and with an office in Cape Town.
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