Pick n Pay (PnP), which is one of South Africa’s largest supermarket chains, is now reportedly allowing its customers to pay at the till via any Bitcoin Lightning-enabled wallet, such as Zap or BlueWallet.
Back on 1 November 2022, PnP issued a press release that said the company was allowing its customers in 39 stores to pay with Bitcoin and that this move “follows the successful completion of the first phase of a new pilot that allows customers to pay using cryptocurrency on their smartphones using a trusted app.”
It went on to say:
“The transaction is as easy and secure as swiping a debit or credit card. Customers scan a QR code from the app and accept the Rand conversion rate on their smartphone at the time of the transaction. The service fee for each transaction is minimal, costing the customer on average 70 cents, and takes less than 30 seconds.“
Apparently, PnP “ran the pilot in 10 Western Cape stores over the past five months with pre-selected testers,” and the retailer has decided to extend the pilot to a further 29 stores for testing with customers, with the intention to roll it out to all stores in the coming months.”
Chris Shortt, Group Executive : Information and Technology (CITO) at Pick n Pay, had this to say at the time:
“This new technology means we can provide an affordable service for high volume, low-value transactions that will promote financial inclusion in South Africa… We are constantly innovating and testing new technology so that we can add real value and choice for the customers we serve. This exciting pilot shows huge potential and is another way we can help and support our customers.“
Earlier today, Cointelegraph published a report that stated PnP is “expanding its Bitcoin coverage to all 1,628 stores across the country following a three-month pilot testing phase in 39 locations” and that “as part of its nationwide rollout, store customers will be able to pay for items using cryptocurrency via smartphone apps or by scanning a QR code and accepting the South African rand’s conversion rate at the time of payment.”
CryptoConvert says that PnP is the first major retailer in Africa to enable Bitcoin Lightning Network payments at the point of sale by integrating the CryptoConvert Lightning Payments API.
Here are the steps customers need to follow to make a Bitcoin Lightning payment at PnP stores:
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Featured Image via Pixabay
