UK residents will soon be able to walk into one of 28,000 shops across the nation and pay for bitcoins in cash, thanks to a new deal forged by ZipZap.

The global cash payment network has partnered with a well-known but as-yet-un-named company in the UK. ZipZap plans to offer this service in partnership with its network of bitcoin exchanges worldwide.

This means that, from January, people will be able to buy bitcoins from a number of reputable exchanges through a single source, and pay in their neighbourhood with physical cash.

ZipZap is currently available at 700,000 locations worldwide: offering consumers the opportunity to pay in cash for goods ordered online.

The company is looking to start offering its cash-for-bitcoins service in the UK in early January. While the service will initially launch in 28,000 locations across the nation, it hopes to expand continuously.

Eric Benz, VP of business development EMEA at ZipZap, said:

"Bitcoin is becoming more and more popular, but the ease of access to digital currency hasn't really improved. We want to change this so that everyone, regardless of how tech-savvy they are, can get involved in bitcoin," he added.

The company aims to expand to the rest of the EU, Africa, Asia and the Middle East, eventually growing to offer its services at over two million locations across the world.

ZipZap's management team has a long history in the payments space, with experience at Western Union, MasterCard, Wells Fargo, Bank of America and CardEx.

"This means we are uniquely positioned to deal with compliance and regulatory considerations," said Benz.

More details about ZipZap's expansion into the bitcoin space will be revealed in early 2014.

Featured image: Dominic's pics' / Flickr