(Kitco News) – Precious metals customers around the world will soon be able to instantly buy – and even sell – physical gold, in any currency, at a self-serve ATM-style kiosk.
KINGHOOD, a Fortune China 500 ranked company, recently unveiled the international version of their Smart Gold Store for the first time at Jewellery & Gem World (JGW) Hong Kong.
The Smart Gold Store combines a smart gold recycling terminal with a self-service gold jewelry purchasing terminal. According to the company, the terminals provide an eco-friendly and intelligent gold recycling and purchasing experience similar to using an ATM.
As of September, KINGHOOD said they have established Smart Gold Stores in around 40 cities across China, including Beijing, Shenzhen, Macau, Hangzhou, Xiamen, and Urumqi. The stores are located in convenient spots, such as banks, supermarkets, and retail shops.
The international version of the Smart Gold Store is equipped with hardware that includes a precision electronic scale capable of switching between major global measurement units and a detector with international compatibility, offering accuracy of metals content and purity of up to 0.01%. The system also supports account registration with mobile numbers from over 200 countries worldwide, as well as global payment in 100 major currencies such as USD, GBP, EUR, and JPY.
Additionally, it connects to the international spot market gold prices and can provide tailored software and hardware development based on the language, standard measurement units, and legal regulations of different countries and regions.
The Smart Gold Store includes innovations such as self-service buying and selling, safety and transparency, and rapid replicability, and the company expects to establish a presence in more countries. KINGHOOD added that it will continue to iterate the international version, developing universal payment interfaces and local gold price interfaces to quickly adapt to various countries and regions and establish operations. It plans to build a learning-based AI customer service system to assist customers in seamlessly conducting gold transactions.
In August, the Smart Gold Store won the 2024 JWA Sustainability Award's ‘Manufacturing Innovation Award’ for its efforts in promoting resource recycling and reducing pollution and energy consumption in the gold recycling process.
The company said the Smart Gold Store has successfully overcome the technological challenges of intelligent detection for small gold weights and multiple jewelry items, achieving standardized and transparent recycling. The Smart Gold Store also offers a self-service purchase terminal for gold gifts where users can enjoy personalized gold customization through the C2M digital online customization platform, allowing them to select product styles, preview 3D models, receive real-time quotes, and complete their orders.
KINGHOOD said the company's digital intelligent recycling aims to raise the proportion of recycled gold in the Chinese market to 5%, reaching a market value of RMB 200 billion ($28.4 billion).
The company said that its Smart Gold Store has already reduced the environmental impact of gold recycling. Since 2021, they have saved approximately 6,000 bottles of liquefied gas and reduced harmful gas emissions by about 7,500 cubic meters through clean energy smelting technology, while the full implementation of electronic processes has saved around 1.2 million sheets of paper.
