Enterprise payment platform Tribal Credit has partnered with Latin American crypto exchange Bitso and the Stellar Development Foundation to create a new cross-border business payment service that opens the door to wider use cases for blockchain technology in the region.
The new service, aimed at small and medium-sized businesses, enables companies in Mexico to pay for goods and services in their local currency, the peso, and have their colleagues in the US receive payments in dollars. The service will be based on the Stellar blockchain, an open source decentralized payment network specializing in cross-currency transactions.
Tribal Credit’s cross-border payment system is facilitated by Bitso, a multi-billion dollar crypto exchange that enables merchants to convert pesos into Stellar’s USDC stablecoin. Bitso was a key partner in the launch of El Salvador’s government-issued Bitcoin (BTC) wallet Chivo.
The Bitcoin journey from El Salvador continues. The Central Bank of El Salvador has published draft regulations on how banks should deal with BTC. https://t.co/GFiN0m0cEX
– Cointelegraph (@Cointelegraph) August 19, 2021
The Stellar Development Foundation, or SDF, is a non-profit organization that supports the growth and adoption of the Stellar blockchain. Stellar’s native XLM cryptocurrency has been a mainstay in the digital asset market for the past four years and currently ranks 26th in terms of total market capitalization. (Interestingly, two members of SDF were included in the Cointelegraph Top 100 for 2021.)
ICYMI: SDF had not just one but TWO of our executives among the 100 best people from @cointelegraph on the blockchain in 2021: @denelledixon and @jedmccaleb.
Have a look at # 31 and # 58! Https: //t.co/sVTuKZ6SP7
– Stellar (@StellarOrg) February 13, 2021
When asked why Tribal Credit selected Stellar for its cross-border payments service, lead researcher Ehab Zaghloul told Cointelegraph that the protocol is in line with Tribal’s mission to “promote financial inclusion and democratize access to financial services”. Stellar is also “fast and charges next to nothing for transactions, which makes it far more affordable and efficient than its competitors,” he said in a written statement.
Fast and efficient cross-border payments are one of the most promising use cases for blockchain technology at a time when traditional wire transfers remain awkward, expensive, and slow. As Cointelegraph reported, credit card giant Visa acquired the Fintech Currencycloud for cross-border payments for an undisclosed amount in July. The acquisition is set to help Visa improve its foreign exchange business.
Related: B2B companies want cross-border payments, but are skeptical of crypto: survey
Tribal Credit has identified Latin America as one of the world’s fastest growing markets for cross-border business transactions. Led by Mexico, the region offers a $ 175 billion market opportunity that could be ripe for disruption for companies willing to experiment with blockchain technology.
“The economic conditions in Latin America are certainly making the region receptive to crypto payment services,” Mohamed Elkasstawi, Tribal Credit’s chief strategy officer, told Cointelegraph in a written statement. “Crypto and stablecoins serve not only in Latin America, but also in many other countries as a hedge against inflation and currency devaluation.” Elkasstawi also attributes the widespread adoption of smartphones to the growing appeal of crypto in the region:
“It is also worth considering that anyone with a smartphone can conduct crypto transactions. In a region where not everyone lives a reasonable distance from traditional financial institutions, cryptocurrencies provide a useful complementary financial service to many people across Latin America.”
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