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- El Salvador’s bank Bancoagricola partners with Flexa
- The deal will enable bitcoin transfers to the bank’s customers
- Retail merchants are accepting bitcoin payments
- CABEI proposed to help in building a technical framework for BTC adoption
El Salvador’s largest bank Bancoagricola has partnered with Flexa, a digital payments getaway to boost the country’s bitcoin adoption policy. The two conglomerates have inked the deal to enable bitcoin transfers to the bank’s customers, including retail and merchant clients.
As part of the partnership between the two companies, the customers of the bank can make the credit card payments denominated in US Dollars via Flexa. They can also use other wallets for payments like Chivo and Eclair. As per the release, the payments made will not incur any additional charges. It will cover loans and merchant goods, among others.
Flexa has recently partnered for the support for lightning payment with the feature reportedly aimed at merchant clients.
Accepting payments in Bitcoin compulsory
Bancoagricola’s partnership with Flexa has come on the heels of bitcoin officially becoming legal tender in El Salvador. Retailers are accepting bitcoin as payments from the people and are welcoming the move with open arms. The news of accepting bitcoins by retailers is doing the round on social media. One of the big McDonald’s outlets has started accepting BTC as payments for a long time.
The government of El Salvador has also said that the businesses are mandated to accept bitcoin from customers but they can choose whether or not they will receive BTC or US Dollars once the transaction is settled.
El Salvador’s Bitcoin adoption policy if proves successful, global money service providers like MoneyGram and Western Union might have to run for their money. They might lose up to $400 million per annum.
The remittance accounts for a significant proportion of El Salvador’s GDP 23% in 2020 alone. 70% of the population reportedly receive money from overseas. In August, the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI) raised the question of adopting bitcoin and said that if it is adopted as legal tender, it could impact remittances in the region for sure.
However, CABEI promised to help the country in building a technical framework for BTC adoption and complying with international anti-money laundering standards. El Salvador’s adoption of Bitcoin as legal tender has also faced much opposition as the majority of the population in the country was against the move.
The International Monetary Fund, the global financial entity, also warned against adopting bitcoin as a national currency.
Steve Anderson is an Australian crypto enthusiast. He is a specialist in management and trading for over 5 years. Steve has worked as a crypto trader, he loves learning about decentralisation, understanding the true potential of the blockchain.
