Guatemala's Largest Bank Banco Industrial Integrates Blockchain Payment Protocol SukuPay to Support Instant Cross-Border Remittances

According to Cointelegraph, Guatemala's largest commercial bank, Banco Industrial, announced the integration of blockchain infrastructure service provider SukuPay into its mobile banking app Zigi. Users can receive remittances from the United States instantly for a fixed fee of $0.99, without the need for a crypto wallet or an international bank account (IBAN). SukuPay stated that this collaboration marks the first time a major retail bank in Latin America has adopted a native crypto protocol.

Founded in 1968, Banco Industrial has over 1,600 service outlets in Guatemala, with assets reaching 150 million quetzals (approximately $20 million) in 2023. Its operations extend to regions such as Honduras, Panama, and El Salvador. The bank holds a significant position in the local remittance market, while cross-border remittances are a crucial pillar of the Latin American economy—total remittances in Latin America and the Caribbean are expected to reach $161 billion in 2024, but traditional channel fees range from 6% to 10%.

SukuPay CEO Yonathan Lapchik pointed out that Guatemala receives $21 billion in remittances annually, and blockchain technology can reduce settlement time from several days to instant, while also lowering cost pressures. He stated that "the key to achieving large-scale adoption of blockchain is to make the technology invisible to users," and emphasized that stablecoins are a core tool for optimizing cross-border payment efficiency.

According to the Chainalysis 2024 report, Latin America is the second fastest-growing region in the world for cryptocurrency adoption, but Guatemala lags behind neighboring countries like Argentina and Brazil. Currently, over 90% of crypto transactions in the region involve stablecoins, whose fiat-pegged nature is more suitable for everyday payment scenarios.