In the next week, South Africans with a Luno wallet or VALR Pay will be able to use bitcoin to buy goods and services at Pick n Pay.

Crypto payments have been available at over 1 500 Pick n Pay stores since February, but the payment process required customers to download two apps to make a crypto payment.

Luno country manager Christo de Wit explained that Luno customers can simply open their Luno app and scan a QR code at the till to pay for their groceries in bitcoin.

Bitcoin payments will be accepted at Pick n Pay Hypermarkets, supermarkets, Express stores and Pick n Pay Clothing in the next week. Customers can buy groceries and airtime, bus tickets, and even pay municipal bills with bitcoin at the till.

Launched in mid-2021, VALR Pay lets users make instant payments in crypto or rands to any cellphone number, e-mail address or VALR Pay ID for free. Recently, it partnered with CryptoConvert to make sure that VALR Pay is compatible with the crypto QR technology used to power the use of bitcoin at Pick n Pay tills.

The feature is initially available to Android users directly from the VALR app, with iOS being rolled out soon. (iOS users can still use VALR Pay at Pick n Pay by downloading the CryptoQR app and setting their default wallet to VALR Pay.)

Bitcoin merchants

“When we developed VALR Pay, our vision was to first create free, fast and easy peer-to-peer payments and then to facilitate payment acceptance at merchants. The acceptance of VALR Pay at over 1 500 Pick n Pay stores across South Africa brings this vision to fruition,” said Farzam Ehsani, VALR co-founder and CEO.

“We’ve built a powerful API (application programming interface) to enable other businesses, like CryptoConvert, to leverage our technology and create beautiful products and services with us.”

In February, CryptoConvert rolled out a Lightning-based bitcoin payment platform nationally with Pick n Pay.