On Tuesday (February 15), Coinbase announced that it has made it cheaper and easier for Coinbase users in Mexico to cash out any crypto sent them by other Coinbase users.

In a blog post published yesterday, Shilpa Dhar, VP of Product, and Moheeth Alvi, Lead Product Manager for Payments, explained that crypto recipients in Mexico would be “cash out crypto in local currency at over 37,000 locations across the country, or save the crypto they’ve received in their Coinbase account.”

They started their blog post by explaining the problem that Coinbase was trying to solve:

“In 2020, immigrants and expats from around the world sent approximately $700 billion from the US to their family and friends back in their home countries, according to the World Bank. But many challenges exist with today’s traditional cross border payment offerings: sender fees can reach up to 6–7%, and recipients can only receive funds as cash in their local currency so they don’t have an option to save, grow, or protect their funds from losing purchasing power due to currency depreciation.“

Next, they explained how they have improved their crypto remittance service:

“Here’s how it works: customers today can already instantly send crypto to recipients in Mexico directly from their Coinbase app. Once sent, the recipient will receive a notification and can immediately view the crypto balance in their Coinbase account. From there, the recipient can choose to cash out or save the funds in their Coinbase account. If they choose to cash out any part of their balance, they can generate a redemption code from their Coinbase app that can be used to receive cash at 37,000 physical retail outlets and convenience stores located across Mexico.“

One of the main places where recipients will be able to cash out to fiat is at OXXO, which is a Mexican chain of convenience stores.

Coinbase users in Mexico can try out this new service for free until 31 March 2022, and after that date they will get charged “a nominal fee that’s still 25–50% cheaper than traditional cross border payment solutions.”

Coinbase also mentioned that it is considering expanding this service to other countries where similar pain points exist.

Disclaimer

The views and opinions expressed by the author, or any people mentioned in this article, are for informational purposes only, and they do not constitute financial, investment, or other advice. Investing in or trading cryptoassets comes with a risk of financial loss.

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