Pick n Pay, Big Wholesaler In South Africa Trial Payment For Shopping Using Crypto Money

Pieter Boone, Pick n Pay CEO, and employees at the store opening. (photo: @PicknPay ·)

JAKARTA - One of South Africa's largest wholesale and retail stores, Pick n Pay, is expanding its pilot to add cryptocurrency as a payment option to more stores once they successfully complete phase one. This was said by the store management on Tuesday, November 1.

The announcement comes weeks after the South African Financial Sector Conduct Authority officially declared crypto assets a financial product in South Africa. This allowed them to be regulated and paved the way for cryptocurrencies to become the primary payment method.

“Cryptocurrencies are increasingly being used by those who are underserved by traditional banking systems, or by those who want to pay and exchange money in a cheaper and more convenient way. Many companies have responded to this by accepting Bitcoin," Pick n Pay said in a statement.

The retailer ran the first phase of a trial in 10 Western Cape province stores over the past five months with pre-selected testers. Pick n Pay, has now expanded the trial to 29 stores for further testing with customers, with a view to rolling it out to all stores in the coming months.

Pick n Pay has partnered with Electrum and CryptoConvert on its latest trial. Payment platform Electrum connects Cryptoconvert and Pick n Pay, allowing customers to pay with Bitcoin Lightning technology at the starting point.

“Crypto payments are still in their infancy in South Africa, but we are already seeing adoption in parts of our society that previously did not have access to traditional financial systems,” said Carel van Wyk, Founder of CryptoConvert, which allows merchants to accept crypto payments.