Guatemala's largest bank, Banco Industrial, has integrated SukuPay's stablecoin rails to facilitate remittances from the U.S. as announced on Wednesday. This integration allows Guatemalans to receive funds from the U.S. for a flat fee of 99 cents using only a phone number within their Banco National mobile app Zigi.
SukuPay's payment tool, unveiled in April 2024, operates on the Ethereum scaling network Polygon and utilizes the USDC stablecoin. This tool enables cross-border money transfers without requiring a crypto wallet.
As of 2022, only 35% of Guatemalan adults had access to formal bank accounts, according to the World Bank's Findex Data. Remittances to Guatemala number around $21 billion annually, which is nearly 20% of the country's GDP.
Stablecoins, now a nearly $230 billion asset class, are becoming popular for payments, remittances, and savings. SukuPay's integration into Banco Industrial highlights the increasing adoption of blockchain for real-world money movement.
This article is based on our author's analysis of materials taken from the following resources: