"Employee Lunch Payments Go Blockchain"... Vittoz and SikSin Launch Stablecoin Electronic Meal Voucher Proof of Concept

Applying Stablecoin to Office Worker Lunch Payments
Expanding Usage from Investment and Remittances to Daily Small Payments While Keeping the App Experience Unchanged

On July 27, VITTOZ announced that it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with food tech company SikSin to introduce a stablecoin-based payment system for employee lunch payments. The two companies plan to jointly promote a proof of concept (PoC) linking stablecoin payments to SikSin's mobile electronic meal voucher, 'SikSin eMeal Voucher'.

Until now, stablecoins have primarily been used in digital asset trading, overseas remittances, and settlements between companies. These are domains involving large transaction amounts and relatively few transactions. In contrast, there have been few verified cases for small-scale, high-frequency payments that occur daily. This is due to challenges in handling high transaction volumes during concentrated time periods and conducting settlements that are fragmented at the merchant level. This proof of concept aims to validate stablecoin payments in this area.

The lunchtime environment, where a large volume of small payments accumulates in a short time, is well-suited to verify system stability. It is expected that the cost-saving effect through real-time settlements with merchants will be directly demonstrated.

The user experience will remain unchanged. Employees will simply launch the app and scan the electronic meal voucher QR code at lunchtime to complete the payment. What changes is how value is exchanged behind the scenes. Currently, the balance for electronic meal vouchers is managed in the service provider's database, deducted from employer prepayments. In the proof of concept, blockchain-issued assets will replace this, and every payment will be executed by transferring assets directly and finalized through a smart contract.

On the merchant side, payment and settlement will be recorded as a single transaction. Once the transaction is confirmed, the data serving as settlement evidence is instantly recorded, allowing both store and service provider to verify payments based on the same record. The two companies will use this proof of concept to confirm whether the system fits existing merchant accounting procedures.

The system will be implemented by adding stablecoin payment functionality to the existing infrastructure. There is no need to replace the store's point-of-sale (POS) terminal or change on-site payment procedures. Once payment is approved, the system will verify whether there is any double-spending or fraudulent use, synchronize with the POS settlement information, and finalize the transaction with a smart contract.

This process utilizes the CPG (Crypto Payment Gateway) jointly developed by VITTOZ and RingNet. CPG is a payment gateway that automatically sets payment routes, processes cross-chain conversion, and swaps between different coins on the backend, regardless of the type of digital asset or blockchain network the user holds. It supports both online and offline payments within a single system.

SikSin, a food tech company that launched in 2013 with a restaurant information service, has connected consumers and the restaurant industry ever since. Its flagship business, 'SikSin eMeal Voucher', is used by approximately 260,000 office workers, and its network of affiliated merchants, including franchises, extends to about 50,000 locations.

Byungik An, CEO of SikSin, stated, "Transitioning the payment reserves to a blockchain-based system allows merchants to shorten the settlement cycle and enables participating companies to monitor meal expense execution more clearly. We aim to present a proof of concept that improves the payment infrastructure while maintaining the familiarity of a payment environment used daily by hundreds of thousands of office workers and merchants."

Sang-guk Lee, CEO of VITTOZ Korea, noted, "For stablecoins to be established as a common means of payment, they must first be validated in routine, small-value transactions rather than large lump-sum dealings. Based on CPG, developed jointly with RingNet, we will verify whether payments and settlements proceed seamlessly in high-traffic lunchtime environments."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.