Guatemala’s Largest Bank Looks to Blockchain for Remittances
Guatemala’s largest financial institution, Banco Industrial, is set to bolster its mobile banking services with SukuPay’s blockchain-based infrastructure to modernize cross-border payments. This initiative aims to allow Guatemalan citizens to instantly, safely, and cheaply receive money from the United States without the need for a crypto wallet or complex banking information.
Banco Industrial has integrated Zigi so that clients can receive remittances in dollars through just a phone number. All transactions are powered by payments using USDC, a stablecoin that runs on the Polygon blockchain for just $0.99 per transfer. As per SukuPay, this innovation eliminates technical barriers that usually prevent ordinary people from using digital financial services.
According to SukuPay CEO Yonathan Lapchik, “We want blockchain to be invisible to the user.” Real adoption happens when users don’t need to learn how it works to gain value from it.
Banco Industrial was founded in 1968 and has more than 1,600 locations in Guatemala. It also operates in Honduras, Panama, and El Salvador. The use of blockchain rails is one of the most significant crypto-native integrations in Latin American banking so far.
Empowering the Unbanked Through Simple, Secure Tech
Guatemala accepts around $21 billion in remittances yearly—money sent home by overseas migrants. They are important for the economy of the country and 20 percent of the GDP. But highly costly remittances have long fees and wait times and deplete the amount sent. This causes severe hardship due to the non-functioning of such payments sent.
SukuPay’s technology streamlines this process. Users can get their money quickly without the use of an international bank account number (IBAN) or digital wallets. This design is especially useful for the unbanked and underbanked community of rural areas where financial services are limited and/or absent.
According to the World Bank, only approximately 35% of adults in Guatemala had access to a formal bank account in 2022. SukuPay seeks to solve this problem by using a familiar mobile application while eliminating the hassles of crypto transactions to boost financial inclusion across the region.
Latin America’s Rising Role in Crypto Adoption
Guatemala is starting to catch up to crypto countries like Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico. Most Latin American nations are quickening their pace of crypto adoption. SukuPay’s partnership with Banco Industrial shows how traditional banks are starting to leverage blockchain to improve back-end operations through the rise of fintechs.
Instead of requiring users to learn something new, as is the case with many crypto projects, that require understanding or managing digital assets, this model embeds blockchain functionality into existing systems people already use. It produces cross-border payments that are faster, cheaper, and more reliable without requiring users to change their behavior.
Banco Industrial is setting the standard for remittances, not just in Guatemala but throughout Latin America, with blockchain rails and USDC stablecoin.
