Bancoagrícola, the largest financial institution in El Salvador announced that it has enabled bitcoin payments for consumers. The bank in collaboration with the New York-based leading payment network, Flexa will facilitate BTC payments through a mobile app. Bancoagrícola is currently accepting bitcoin (BTC) to pay for loans, credit cards, and merchant goods and services, in compliance with the new “Bitcoin Law“, which has been in effect since September 7.
Bitcoin Payments Without any Additional Interest
Bancoagrícola has become the world’s first bank to completely integrate Bitcoin into its payment offerings. Users can now use this service through the installation of the Flexa- or Lightning-enabled wallet app. BTC payments for both, US dollar-based loans and credit cards will accommodate “the exact fair market rate, without any additional fee or spread.”
“We are excited to be the first financial institution in El Salvador to enable bitcoin access for our customers across our entire suite of financial products and to enhance financial inclusion,” said Carlos Mauricio Novoa, COO of Bancoagrícola. Flexa has been instrumental in helping us prioritize our customers’ experiences using bitcoin as legal tender in El Salvador; we look forward to continuing to innovate alongside them for a long time to come.”, he added.
Bancoagrícola merchants are using the Wompi payment gateway to accept BTC payments, which is also capable of enabling Flexa-powered bitcoin payments. Additionally, this gateway warrants “zero system fraud and no fees for end customers” according to the Press Release.
The bank also plans to bring turnkey, i.e., fraud-proof bitcoin payments via Flexa to all its’ clients point-of-sale terminals by the end of this year.
“The opportunity to partner with organizations as innovative and world-class as Bancoagrícola and Grupo Bancolombia so that we can support better payment technology for millions of Salvadorans in such a tangible and impactful way is simply incredible. We’re very grateful to have spent the last few months on this journey with the Bancoagrícola team and can’t wait to see how the rest of this financial revolution unfolds.”, said Trevor Filter, co-founder of Flexa.
