Yeah, but it's more of a general appeal thing if you open it up to more currencies. Plus you can already ad-hoc something like this already with current architecture.

That's actually a pretty decent idea.  Or a variation -- instead of paying out coins for your change, that amount just gets an electronic debit into an account that acts like (or is linked to) a prepaid debit card.  Since it is going from the merchant to the customer, there's no pin # or anything else needed from the customer -- just their magstripe card or QR code, or even just a phone number.  I wouldn't be surprised if something like this already exists.

Merchants would love it because it can now tie customers that pay cash even to its customer database analytics data mining systems.  And that's were my interest in seeing this succeed ends.

Awesome concept, but people who want to avoid change usually just pay with a debit card.  

I was thinking about a mastercard that gives you BTC in the same way some cards give you points or air miles.  Even 0.05 BTC per $20 would make me want to get that card.

This topic was bought up once before, but still is an excellent idea. https://bt.irlbtc.com/view/64569.0

The average person on the street would normally just want their change in physical coins unless, of course, the average user is a gamer, then between them and their parents they'll be able to amass x amount of bitcoins during the course of a week, using their coins to purchase wares for their games. The merchant now has an added incentive in providing this service, for he'll get a kickback from the game developers. In fact, he'll be able to double-dip if he procures bitcoins at a rate lower than what he has to dole out. Now, if the proprietor manages the store of which is owned by him and other investors, and those investors split the operating cost, his electric expense for mining would be lower than the average miner. Taking this idea one step further, if the owner of this fictitious 7-11 sold his surplus bitcoins to family members back in India at a rate higher than prevailing, then he's golden.


I approve this post.

~Bruno~

One slight problem some might have with that though is that the customer cannot redeem the code instantly -- as the transaction by the merchant to load the funds to the address on the QR code from the receipt doesn't confirm immediately.  The key from the QR code could be imported immediately, just that it couldn't be redeemed swept immediately.   This probably isn't a major problem but it detracts from the benefits of the concept slightly.


A problem might will occur where there is difficulty in redeeming the code.  When the redemption doesn't occur immediately (e.g., while still in the store) then some of that "difficulty" will be the result of attempted fraud (e.g., claimed the code then makes a complaint that the code couldn't be redeemed.) and some will be for other reasons (customer couldn't figure it out, technical problems, etc.).

The risk of fraud will probably kill this idea before it even gets off the launch pad though.  The employer cannot prove the customer is in the wrong, so the end result is either the merchant ends up denying refunds to innocent customers who were truly unable to obtain their change (e.g., when the merchant itself runs an insecure system) or the merchant gives refunds for most claims and as a result the amount of fraudulent claims (and thus the cost of offering this) skyrockets.

So maybe requiring the customer to provide the public bitcoin address (obtained with a card swipe perhaps) is the only workable method for this.  There's no liability on the merchant's end -- the receipt provided shows the bitcoin address that was scanned and includes as well transaction info for the change payment that can be verified against the block chain.