By trading volume, VALR is the largest cryptocurrency exchange in South Africa. Through a partnership with CryptoConvert, VALR payments are now accepted at all Pick & Pay checkouts nationwide. This indicates that all VALR users will be able to utilise VALR Pay using the VALR mobile app to spend Bitcoin for the acquisition of goods and services at Pick n Pay, one of the biggest grocery chains in sub-Saharan Africa.

Since its start in 2018, VALR has processed a trading volume of over $10 billion and raised $55 million. The cryptocurrency exchange provides its users with some of the lowest trading costs in the world, enabling them to trade Bitcoin and a variety of other crypto assets.

Over 800 corporate and institutional clients from across the world, together with half a million retail customers, are currently served by VALR.

Since VALR launched VALR Pay in June 2021, the service has allowed users to send quick payments in cryptocurrency or Rands for free to any cell phone number, email address, or VALR Pay ID. As a result of a relationship with CryptoConvert, VALR Pay has now been improved, to ensure that VALR Pay is compatible with the crypto QR technology used to power the acceptance of Bitcoin at Pick n Pay tills countrywide.

With iOS support coming shortly, the feature is currently only accessible to Android users directly through the VALR App. By downloading the CryptoQR app and configuring VALR Pay as their default wallet, iOS users can continue to utilise VALR Pay at Pick n Pay.

“We’re thrilled about this collaboration. It is a significant improvement for VALR Pay’s utility. According to Blake Player, Head of Growth at VALR, “it opens up crypto payments to a much wider audience than what was previously possible in South Africa.”

Customers can pay directly at the register by utilising VALR Pay by using the Bitcoin they have stored in their VALR account.

“When we created VALR Pay, our goal was to first provide free, quick, and simple peer-to-peer payments and then to make it easier for businesses to accept payments. This objective is realised thanks to the acceptance of VALR Pay at more than 1,500 Pick & Pay locations in South Africa. Farzam Ehsani, co-founder and CEO of VALR, explains.

“We’ve developed a robust API to allow companies like CryptoConvert to use our technology to jointly develop gorgeous products and services with us,” the company claims.

In terms of accepting crypto payments securely and easily, both online and offline, CryptoConvert is the industry leader. Instead of employing methods based on vouchers, they concentrate on quicker, direct payment options.

With Pick n Pay, CryptoConvert launched its Lightning payment platform nationwide in February 2023. Since then, the business has been testing an online e-commerce payment option with a restricted group of partners. In order to improve and broaden its payment solution to a larger consumer base, CryptoConvert teamed with VALR Pay.

Carel van Wyk, the founder of CryptoConvert, said, “This relationship with VALR enables us to make crypto payments available to a far bigger audience than before.

“The principles of open standards and collaborative innovation are at the heart of cryptocurrency. Everyone benefits from VALR’s dedication to supplying the sector with practical tools and infrastructure.

ABOUT PICK N PAY

In the fast-moving consumer goods sector, the Pick & Pay Group is a South African retail company. The Group operates under three brands: Pick n Pay, Boxer, and TM Supermarkets, using a variety of shop formats. One of sub-Saharan Africa’s biggest online grocery marketplaces is run by Pick n Pay.