This is so close to having a low-tech Do-It-Yourself paper-based solution for merchants.
With this, the merchant pre-prints out a batch of these with the public-key only (and its QR Code) on paper (such as blank personal check paper stock) (see below)
http://www.amazon.com/VersaCheck-Refills-Personal-Wallet-Prestige/dp/B00134O78SAnd then generated is the merchant's master (see below) to be kept secure which contains the public-key (& QR Code) and also the private key (& QR Code) for redeeming.
Then at the point of sale the cashier has a supply of these pre-printed "check" blanks with Bitcoin addresses (see below).
When the purchase occurs, the cashier fills in the amount and invoice # (or other identifier for matching to the point of sale transaction) and provides the check blank to the customer. The customer, using a mobile, scans the QR code and sends the bitcoins.
The merchant's back-office already has the address registered with BitcoinNotify.com so when payment is made (on 0/unconfirmed) an email (or SMS) is received.
-
http://bitcoinnotify.comThe cashier places the check in the drawer as the customer has paid and proceeds with completing the sale.
After the shift, the merchant's bookkeeper matches up the checks from the drawer against the corresponding master which has the private key, scans the key and spends those funds to the merchant's master wallet / consolidation address. The "master" strip can then be stapled to the check and archived for records storage without having to further worry about securing the private key.
This could work.
Here's what I picture a batch of three checks looking like: [Edit: obviously, each of the three would have a unique bitcoin address code, but being lazy, I just did a copy and paste using the same code for all three]
And the merchant's masters corresponding to the checks: