South Africans Can Now Pay With Crypto at 650,000 Stores

South Africans can now pay with cryptocurrency at thousands of retail stores nationwide, following a new partnership between QR payments provider Scan to Pay and Bitcoin payments company MoneyBadger.

According to a Tech Central report, the integration allows users of major exchanges, including Binance, Luno, Blink and VALR, to pay using Bitcoin (BTC), stablecoins and other crypto assets at over 650,000 Scan to Pay-enabled merchants.

Crypto holders can pay for their purchases through QR codes at checkout counters, while the merchants will receive their settlements in rand. The system works through the MoneyBadger platform, linking payments to users’ exchanges or Bitcoin Lightning accounts. 

With the integration, users can pay for groceries, meals and online shopping directly with crypto. 

Removing the crypto conversion step for users

Theo Koma, the product owner at Scan to Pay, said that the collaboration is a step toward financial inclusion. “By removing the conversion step, we’re making it possible for people to use their cryptocurrency holdings directly,” Koma said. 

This means that crypto users don’t need to convert their funds back into fiat when they want to use the assets for everyday purchases.

Merchants also won’t need to perform additional steps to accept crypto payments on Scan to Pay’s existing network. 

Crypto platform Luno said the collaboration connects its 30,000 merchant base with Scan to Pay’s 650,000 outlets, expanding payments to major retail chains like Shoprite, Checkers, Makro and Vodacom. 

Related: South African ETF issuer cautions investors over its own Bitcoin fund

South Africans are moving from hoarding to spending

MoneyBadger CEO Carel van Wyk said the rollout reflects a bigger shift in the local market. 

“South Africans are increasingly moving from holding Bitcoin as an investment to using it for everyday spending,” he said. “This move expands the number of places where South Africans can pay with Bitcoin significantly.”

Van Wyk previously urged the community to spend their Bitcoin, arguing that hoarding Bitcoin kills adoption. On Oct. 2, he pointed to the Bitcoin white paper’s original vision of being a peer-to-peer electronic cash system. 

He said market demand strengthens utility and creates demand for merchants to accept BTC payments.