An Argentinian bank may become the first bank in the world to begin using Bitcoin for customers’ international remittances.
Banco Masventas (BMV) announced yesterday via their Facebook page that the company has teamed up with local blockchain financial service startup Bitex.
With this new partnership, BMV gives their customers access to make cross-border international payments using Bitcoin.
This new initiative removes the need for SWIFT, a clearing network used by most banks which has seen various security issues and failures in recent years. Under this new provision, BMV customers have the capability to send money to 50 different countries and with its payment timeframes reduced to 24 hours.
An informational page on BMV’s website states:
“The service allows you to reduce costs associated with international transfers as there are no international banks as intermediaries.”
Bitex’s chief marketing officer, Manuel Beaudroit, told CoinDesk that no real-world transactions were launched today, but the bank will soon use Bitcoin for its customer transactions.
Beaudroit said:
“The customers will ask the bank to do an international payment, and the bank uses Bitex as a provider. For the customer, it’s transparent, they don’t touch, they don’t see the bitcoin. We are a provider for them, and they are not touching bitcoin.”
Now that BMV has made the switch, there is every possibility that this is just the start for banks to incorporate an infrastructure that offers cryptocurrency transfers.
Shifting Tides
If Bitex and BMV payments prove successful, Argentina will greatly outstep its neighbors in cryptocurrency adoption. Back in April, there was even a day named ‘Bitcoin Day’ that was held in the country’s capital, Buenos Aires.
This year, due to changes in legislation, Argentina is set to have over 4000 Bitcoin ATMs installed throughout their country.
Last month, Santander, a global banking giant, joined with Ripple to provide same-day transfers to customers in the U.K, Poland, Brazil, and Spain. Santander Group said in a statement:
“Transfers to Europe can be made on the same day and we are aiming to deliver instant transfers across several markets by the summer.”
