Rappi, a Colombian on-demand delivery firm that offers services across nine Latin American countries, has rolled out a cryptocurrency payment program in Mexico.
A report unveiled the news on April 11, noting that the company teamed up with crypto payment service provider BitPay and Mexican digital asset exchange Bitso to launch this service.
According to the report, the crypto payment service will allow Mexican customers to use crypto in their debit cards to purchase goods and services within the Rappi app.
The company did not explain why it decided to launch the crypto payment option in Mexico only despite operating in Colombia, Costa Rica, Peru, Ecuador, Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, and Brazil. Additionally, the firm did not reveal which cryptocurrencies it would support.
Sebastian Mejia, Rappi’s President, commented on this initiative, saying:
“We are studying the crypto world with interest and believe that the future is the intersection of the crypto world with non-crypto companies.”
He added that:
“It’s a first step that will allow us to learn and continue incorporating the crypto world into Rappi.”
In 2021, Rappi launched Pay with Rappi in Mexico last year, offering customers a simple way to make online payments. With this launch, Rappi sought to compete against PayPal and its regional competitor MercadoLibre.
BitPay continues helping more companies embrace crypto
Beyond Latin America, startups and merchants are increasingly embracing crypto, especially after last year’s bull rally, which saw Bitcoin (BTC) hit an all-time high of $68,789.63. BitPay has played a pivotal role in helping big and small businesses around the world embrace crypto payments.
To help simplify transactions in the flagship cryptocurrency, BitPay integrated Lightning Network earlier in April. According to the firm’s co-founder, Tony Galippi, the Lightning Network integration helps offer customers more payment options and merchants more ways to get paid through blockchain technology.
With this integration, BitPay also opened a new avenue for BTC to become mainstream. BitPay merchants will not need to change their current setups to start accepting Lightning Network payments.
More importantly, both merchants and their customers will get access to instant BTC transactions at low fees, features that make it easy to use their BTC for everyday purchases.
