Dynamite is a small vintage clothing store located in Athens, GA, USA. Lori Paluck is its owner proudly announcing the acceptance of Bitcoin payments at the store to promote the business and virtual currency in general.
Actually, Dynamite is the first venue equipped to accept Bitcoin payments at the till in the city. Rumor has it there is one more shop sharing the privilege of being the pioneer, but no specific information has been obtained.
According to Lori Paluck, not many customers used this in-store option. Instead, many have used Bitcoin to complete online purchases at the store.
The shop owner is not surprised. She believes people need to get used to the currency and get informed themselves. Her comment:
“Most of them have used them for payment online in various ways, but for all of them, this was their first, in-person, in-store transaction, which is very exciting.”
Paluck has launched a wallet for the shop, but the task of the POS terminal is performed by an Android tablet with the corresponding software. It prepares the transaction data and generates a QR code on the screen. Clients scan it with their smartphone cameras and complete transactions with apps or via browsers.
Lori explains:
“When the customer receives the address that the QR code sent, they now know where they would send the funds from their ‘wallet’ to ours. This is an instant transaction that goes straight to us.”
She also believes that both sides of the deal benefit from Bitcoin use:
“If someone pays with a credit card, not only are we as the merchants having to verify that the card is the customers card and not stolen, but also the customer is always at risk of identity theft (look at Target’s recent incident). When using Bitcoin, both parties are satisfied. You can see the money (Bitcoin) going to your address and know that there is zero chance that you (the business owner) won’t get the money, and the customer knows that the Bitcoin they have is going straight to the business without risking personal information.”
Diana Fontaine, a junior psychology and economics major from Nashville, Tennessee, is partly familiar with the technology, having gained knowledge from her sister, but has never performed a transaction on her own. Her conclusion expresses the opinion of the majority of society:
“I think someday there will be a world in which we rely solely on digital cash, but that’s a transition much bigger than Bitcoin. People are used to online banking, but complete removal of tangible currency would require a greater public trust in completely digital money systems than exists today.”