A blockchain-based company has unveiled plans to roll out a global network of self-service kiosks — enabling millions of unbanked people around the world to pay bills, make purchases and access other financial services.

KIBIS says a plethora of services are available through its kiosks. Consumers can pay for gas, water and electricity, book airline tickets and check flight details, subscribe to TV subscription services such as Amazon Prime and Netflix, and buy prepaid vouchers for themselves or loved ones. The payment method accepted by the self-service kiosks will be cash and cryptocurrencies in permitted countries. Other payment options will become available in due course.

The platform has partnered with hundreds of mobile carriers, enabling the public to top up their smartphones on demand, and it will also be possible for them to donate to the charitable causes they are passionate about directly from a kiosk. In a bid to help fuel the mainstream adoption of cryptocurrencies, consumers would also be able to invest in gift cards for crypto exchanges.

A high-throughput blockchain network will be used to process transactions, with an e-wallet payment network set to follow in the future. To ensure KIBIS is able to run at a reasonable scale, a side chain that connects to the Ethereum mainnet is going to be created.

Revenue streams

As well as the income derived from transaction fees, KIBIS says that its kiosks provide two additional revenue streams. An advertising display can be found at the top of each kiosk — and given the footfall that these machines are likely to enjoy around the world, the company is confident that this could create high demand from nearby businesses.

“High efficiency” mining equipment is also going to be embedded within each KIBIS kiosk, with each machine enjoying access to a low-cost source of electricity. Over time, the firm says this will create a large mining pool in countries dotted around the world. A “multi-algorithm mining platform” is going to be used to ensure energy is devoted to mining the most profitable coins at any given period — a move which KIBIS says will “maximize return on investment.”

Self-service kiosks can already be found dotted around the world, including in the United Arab Emirates, Ukraine, Russia, the United Kingdom, Azerbaijan and other countries throughout Eastern Europe. These machines will also benefit from the new KIBIS Mining equipment. The company envisages that every kiosk deployed in the coming years — which could be up to 18,000 — will also be fitted with this infrastructure.

Key kiosk developments

The public presale for KIBIS is beginning on Dec. 10, 2018, and this will be followed by a full Initial Coin Offering.

Looking ahead to 2019, KIBIS plans to begin ordering the manufacture of kiosks with built-in mining equipment that will be destined for the United Arab Emirates, as well as signing agreements with the locations where the kiosks will be based. A mining pool is also going to be launched, and development work is due to commence on the firm’s blockchain-based payment processing platform.

Toward the end of next year, KIBIS hopes to begin deploying kiosks in Oman — and start development of the e-wallets its consumers will use, which will boast more than 2,000 services. Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait are set to follow thereafter.