Binance partners with CryptoConvert to introduce new crypto payment option for South Africans

Global cryptocurrency exchange Binance has partnered with CryptoConvert to offer South Africans another digital assets payment option.

The new feature enables Binance users to pay for their goods with crypto through their wallets at all Pick n Pay stores nationwide. 

The details 

• According to Binance, the feature would require users to link their wallets to the CryptoQR application. 
• To utilize this feature, Binance users need to scan the QR code for payments presented by Pick n Pay’s cashier using their CryptoQR app. This action opens their Binance wallets, facilitating payment directly to the store. 
• Binance said that the necessity to channel payments through the CryptoQR app stems from the fact that the store’s infrastructure is not configured to accept payments directly from the Binance app. 
• The exchange told Mariblock that it has seen “significant” adoption of the feature since its launch. It added that while it cannot provide numbers, it is witnessing enough feature usage to indicate that its users are responsive to the development. 

Key quotes 

• In an email to Mariblock, a spokesperson for the exchange said: 

“Binance has partnered with CryptoConvert and Pick n Pay to enable the use of cryptocurrency to purchase groceries at any Pick n Pay outlet with the Binance app.”  

• On the need for transactions to be completed through the CryptoQR app, the exchange said: 

“A second app is required since credit card terminals used at the moment of purchase are unable to accept Binance payments directly. They do, however, support a more generic QR code that allows payment using multiple wallet payment options.  The CryptoQR software converts that QR code into a format that their Binance wallet can read and pay with.” 

Before now 

• In February, CryptoConvert announced that it launched a system that allows South Africans to pay for their groceries at all Pick n Pay stores in the country using bitcoin. 
• At its onset, the payments system was powered by the Bitcoin Lightning Network, which powered it to make fast and small retail payments. 
• Users had to download and fund a separate lightning-enabled bitcoin wallet to make payments. 
• Three months ago, the payments company announced that it was partnering with the crypto exchanges VALR and Luno to enable users of these exchanges to pay directly through their wallets without needing to fund a separate Lightning wallet first. 
• CryptoConvert’s founder, Carel van Wyk, told Mariblock that it became necessary to integrate exchanges because its users complained that they would rather skip the extra step to fund Lightning wallets. 

“Previously, we only supported Bitcoin Lightning wallet payments. Our number one customer complaint was that they wanted to avoid going through the extra step of funding their Bitcoin Lightning wallets from their Luno and VALR accounts. So, we decided to help them by eliminating [that extra step],” van Wyk said. 

Zoom out 

• This development highlights the increasingly friendly disposition of crypto regulations in South Africa, especially following regulatory clarity from the South African Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA). 
• The country encouraged financial institutions to serve crypto clients and added crypto businesses to a list of accountable institutions, effectively acknowledging the country’s asset class’s legality.