How Salvadorans Will Use Bitcoin To Pay Their Bills: Bitrefill Launches Payment Service

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Bitrefill, the startup that offers Bitcoin-funded prepaid cards for different services around the world, has launched a new bill payment service that allows Salvadorans to pay for several basic needs using Bitcoin. The company made the announcement during the three-day Adopting Bitcoin conference held in El Salvador, which brought together “the Bitcoin and Lightning community”.

Bitcoin has been legal tender in El Salvador since September 7, but many companies were not meeting the requirement to integrate the digital coin as a payment method in their operations, noted the CEO of Bitrefill. Some even said they preferred to lose sales. Bitrefill aims to provide a solution for businesses so that they can easily adapt to the use of Bitcoin and allay their current worries.

Related reading | More people use Bitcoin wallets than bank accounts, says President of El Salvador

Bitrefill’s bill payment method will allow Salvadorans to pay for 150 different services using Bitcoin, including internet, water, insurance, loans, taxes, mortgages, social security services, university expenses, and more. . They also authorized payments abroad. 12 services are currently available on the site, and they will be added to the rest in the coming weeks.

The platform will use Bitcoins Lightning Network and on-chain transactions, which allows low fees. “El Salvador can now live entirely on Bitcoin,” the company said.

The functionality is offered in alliance with Puntoexpress, a local payment platform. The payment process has been simplified for users, so they only need to provide an email address to redeem a voucher code and receipt.

El Salvador, a Bitcoin country

Bitrefill said it processed 187,000 purchases in El Salvador in 2021, and 88% came from the country’s capital, San Salvador. There was a peak of 20,000 payments in September when the “Bitcoin Law” came into effect.

The majority of Salvadorans are said to use the Chivo digital wallet, an app created by the government, as their preferred payment method for Bitrefill purchases.

Bitrefill CEO Sergej Kotliar said they now have their head office in El Salvador, an official in the country, and hire for all positions to cover the needs of the business. He shared his strategy is to be directly involved in the country by being present and maintaining contact with people who provide him with different approaches and information that the company can use to design other services.

The CEO believes El Salvador could become a role model for other countries to follow. The company also said in a tweet:

Most importantly, the 80% of unbanked people can now pay for almost anything online – products, services, bills – from the comfort of their own homes (or loved ones in the United States).

El Salvador’s adoption of Bitcoin has been a bumpy road. However, the Chivo portfolio surpasses 2.2 million users within weeks of its launch, gaining around 8,500 new users per hour and reaching 3 million later. Citizens were given $ 30 each as an incentive to download the app, but some told Reuters they were having problems using it and making withdrawals.

The government remains optimistic, even though it faces challenges. We still have to see if innovation and the right strategies can help bridge the gap between the government’s vision and the tension around Salvadorans.

Related reading | El Salvador calls another Bitcoin drop with $ 25 million buy

Bitcoin is trading at $ 60,714 in the daily chart | Source: BTCUSD on TradingView.com

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