Customers can now directly pay with their bitcoin wallets thanks to a new payment option named “Pay with crypto” that South African fintech company Stitch has introduced.

This development takes place against the backdrop of cryptocurrencies’ rising acceptance in the local market, where studies suggest that 7.7 million South Africans are reportedly bitcoin owners.

Stitch highlights in an official statement that the launch of this new payment option makes it possible for nearby retailers to take bitcoin payments from clients looking to make purchases of goods and services.

As stated by Junaid Dadan, President of Stitch:

The adoption of cryptocurrencies has been among the greatest globally in South Africa. A sizable portion of the public would rather make payments with their cryptocurrency. With the help of our “Pay with Crypto” option, we are happy to provide Stitch clients with the chance to interact with and cater to this market without having to assume any direct volatility risk.

An application programming interface (API) is provided by Stitch, which recently secured $25 million and launched WigWag, a social commerce payment platform for small enterprises. This allows businesses to accept payments online. The corporation has offices in Lagos, Nigeria, and Cape Town and Johannesburg, South Africa.

With a focus on building infrastructure, Stitch makes it easier for companies to connect with customers’ bank accounts to enable easy and seamless transactions. Notable enterprise clients of the company include:

-MultiChoice
-MTN
-The Foschini Group
-Standard Bank’s SnapScan
-Yoco

The ‘Pay with Crypto’ function, according to the company, gives users the option to use bitcoin that is saved in their Binance or VALR wallets to execute a transaction or make a deposit. Users also have the option to send Ethereum or Bitcoin straight for payment.

According to Stitch, “Pay with Crypto” is accessible to any company that takes electronic payments. This comprises:

-Online marketplaces
-E-commerce enterprises
-Gaming and trading platforms
-Local and international travel providers

VALR’s Head of Growth, Blake Player, says:

“We’re thrilled to see another partner utilizing the VALR Pay API for their development.” The Stitch integration increases the VALR users’ e-commerce possibilities for spending their cryptocurrency holdings in South Africa.

“We’ve had incredible interest in working with the VALR Pay product, and as cryptocurrency payments gain traction, we anticipate seeing rapid growth in their volume.”