A Hanover-based tech startup has come up with a novel working bitcoin point-of-sale (POS) device dubbed PEY. The invention is made out of a 3D-printed casing,and is currently being offered free to local businesses to stimulate adoption of Bitcoin as a means of payment. The PEY team have also devloped a wallet app for iOS and Android which works in sync with the terminals, which has been downloaded 150 times in the last month.
The prototype of the PEY system runs on Android for the time being, but the team are investigating alternatives- with particular focus on Raspberry Pi.
Ricardo Ferrer Rivero, the man responsible for the terminal was inspired by the demand for ‘low-cost bitcoin payment solutions,’ reports Coindesk.
“It’s a no-brainer,” Mr Rivero notes : “If you offer a merchant the possibility to accept payments without a fee and still have the benefits of electronic payments without using cash, it would be hard for them to say no.”
PEY faced its fair share of scepticism upon its release, but popularity and adoption of the device is on the rise. The device is currently free of charge, and being used in 50 establishments to facilitate Bitcoin payments. Plans to charge for the service in the future-and the overall business model- remain nebulous. Rivero highlights that “”bitcoin payments do not currently make up a large part of the shop’s revenue so we will have to wait for the market to develop before we assess how to proceed”.
PEY’s current model is similar to other schemes being rolled out in the US and Netherlands, such as snapCard’s #IntegrateSF campaign and Bitstraat/BitPay’s effort to distribute free terminals across Amsterdam last year. Will such schemes increase the ubiquity of Bitcoin as a means of payment? We certainly hope so.
(Image credit: Jason Benjamin, via Flickr)
