Crypto POS Maker Pundi X Partners with HARA to Bring Blockchain to Farmers

Pundi Labs (Pundi X), a point-of-sale (POS) terminal maker, has announced a partnership with blockchain startup HARA to bring its blockchain-based POS devices to farmers. The company said the partnership will seek to facilitate data collection and financial inclusion across Indonesia’s rural areas and agricultural sector.

HARA, a blockchain startup incorporated in Singapore, is developing a data exchange ecosystem. Starting with the agriculture and food sector in Indonesia, HARA is providing an end-to-end solution for all stakeholders in the data exchange market. The platform collects real-time data from across the agricultural and food value chain with the goal to help farmers increase annual yields and boost productivity.

Farmers, NGOs, and other on-the-ground partners are incentivized to provide data on ecological, crop, and market conditions such as soil quality, grain price, and land ownership. Those who input data into the blockchain are rewarded with HARA Tokens. Meanwhile, companies, organizations, government institutions, and individuals can purchase raw data sets from the HARA decentralized data exchange using the cryptocurrency.

The partnership with Pundi X will see the company’s XPOS cryptocurrency-supported devices being deployed initially across Indonesian villages at an approximate density of one device of every 200 farmers in participating areas.

The POS devices will be available to farmers to use and claim their HARA tokens as well as exchange them. 

“HARA has dedicated itself to connecting the missing pieces in global agriculture for the benefit of everyone involved in the supply chain. The data we are already collecting from farmers brings benefits to transportation, to consumers, to commercial interests and to governments,” said Regi Wahyu, CEO and co-founder of HARA.

“The addition of the Pundi X POS to our ecosystem allows us to connect another missing link, which is the processing of digital payments for the large unbanked populations in global agriculture we’re aiming to serve.”

The HARA Ecosystem has been deployed locally with the support of Indonesian regional governments and directly-elected local government leaders known as regents or Bupati. The startup has already collected agricultural data from about 10,000 farmers across the country and wants to reach 2 million farmers by 2020 across several markets in South and Southeast Asia.

HARA claims that with the data collected through its pilot project, several farmers have already been able to successfully apply for microcredit from banks.

Listiyono, the head of Bakalan Village, Kapas District, said the technology provided by HARA can help farmers gain access to credit and improve financial inclusion in rural areas.

“HARA guarantees valid farmers’ data, which makes the process for the banks easier,” Listiyono said. “For example, a bank requires a land certificate, whereas a lot of farmers don’t have that. Sometimes they even require proof of tax payment, but most farmers don’t even have [a tax registration number].”

Pundi X develops blockchain-powered POS terminals. Its XPOS device supports cryptocurrency payments as well as transactions through mobile wallets including Alipay and WeChat Pay and payment cards. All Pundi X devices are connected to the Ethereum and NEM blockchain. The company’s latest model supports more than a dozen cryptocurrencies.

XPOS was recently announced as the chosen technology to run digital payments for Dubai’s government-backed official credit bureau.

“We are proud that the Pundi X POS will soon be rolled out among HARA’s already-impressive network of farming partners and can help facilitate their plans to better such a significant sector of the world economy and the lives of the hundreds of millions of people who depend upon it,” commented Constantin Papadimitriou, president and co-founder of Pundi X.