Guatemala's largest bank, Banco Industrial, has integrated SukuPay's stablecoin payment infrastructure into its mobile app, Zigi. This marks a regional first in Latin America where a top-tier retail bank has embedded a crypto-native protocol at this depth within its system. The new technology allows Guatemalan users to receive U.S. remittances in under 20 seconds for a flat fee of $0.99.
The integration enables payments using a phone number without requiring IBANs, crypto wallets, or currency conversions. Users can send funds via debit card, Apple Pay, or cash through retail partners like Walmart and CVS. SukuPay’s system is built on the Polygon network and leverages the USDC stablecoin.
Remittances constitute a vital financial lifeline for Guatemala, which receives over $21 billion annually—almost 20% of its GDP. Traditional cross-border transfers are often slow and costly, but this solution addresses inefficiencies by embedding the stablecoin transfers directly inside a regulated banking environment.
Banco Industrial chose to partner with SukuPay rather than build its own cross-border infrastructure, viewing this upgrade as a new financial standard for real-world payments accessible to both banked and unbanked populations. This integration may serve as a model for other Latin American banks seeking modernization while avoiding forcing customers to engage directly with complex crypto technologies.