Small businesses using NCR's Silver tablet-based point-of-sale system are steadily asking about bitcoin but not showing much interest in Apple Pay, NCR product manager Reggie Kimble told Finextra.

NCR introduced bitcoin as a payment option for Silver in early November, after significant hesitation in supporting cryptocurriencies, Kimble said in an interview. But now that merchants are responding positively -- and asking how they can incorporate bitcoin in their business -- the company has begun increasing its activities in bitcoin-related campaigns, including the St. Petersburg Bowl on Dec. 26, which is sponsored this year by bitcoin exchange BitPay.

"We're going to have our POS solution in the stadium in their fanzone, accepting bitcoin for transactions," Kimble said. "So when we look at opportunities to co-market and support one of our partners, and you couple that with merchant and consumer demand, it becomes a priority on our end to get that development work done."

The cryptocurrency offers payment flexibility for small merchants, which appears to be an issue with Apple Pay. "Many feel that bitcoin adjusts to the needs of transforming businesses and not the other way around. Apple Pay was recently accused of only catering to major retailers -- though Apple has received pushback from these same retailers favoring their own mobile payment app, CurrentC," according to Finextra.