Online point-of-sale (POS) vendor Vend has announced that its Australian retailers can accept the digital currency Bitcoin as payment for goods and services.

To make a Bitcoin sale retailers enter a sale amount into the Vend platform in their local currency and automatically a payment code appears in the customers’ software wallet. In seconds the retailer receives the ‘green tick’ to confirm the money has been transferred to their online wallet.

“Digital currencies are the future and accepting them through the Vend platform is now as easy as any other transaction,” said Vaughan Rowsell, CEO and founder of Vend, in a press release.

Vend converts the payments to Bitcoin through an integration with Bitcoin payments service DC POS.

“Bitcoin is an efficient way to accept electronic payment for goods and services with transaction fees at 0.5%, much less than fees charged to retailers by the big banks. It’s also secure, as Bitcoins act like cash so once the transaction has taken place, the money is the retailers. The shop or café is in control of any disputed amount not the credit card provider or the bank,” Rowsell said.

The Bike Factory Outlet and Vivo Green Café, in Melbourne, Australia have been offering Bitcoin for three weeks now and believe it is a point of difference. “We’ve had a few customers make use of it and we’re adding ourselves to the Bitcoin registers so more people are aware that we take this form of payment,” said Rohan Carroll, IT manager for both stores, in the release.

Orea Café is the only café in Brisbane’s CBD that accepts payment by Bitcoin. “We’ve been accepting Bitcoin payments for several months now, and it already makes up about 10 percent of our daily takings,” said Samantha Saunders, Orea’s co-owner, in the release.

Image: Bitcoin Magazine