Global FinTech firm Circle has partnered with Mercado Pago, the largest FinTech company in Latin America, to enhance efficiency and accessibility to digital dollars in Chile.
By granting millions of users in Chile access to USD Coin (USDC), a stablecoin pegged to the U.S. dollar, this partnership will facilitate transactions and unlock new opportunities in the digital economy, the companies said in a Tuesday (Aug. 29) press release.
Matías Spagui, senior director of Mercado Pago, said in the release that the stability of the U.S. dollar makes it a valuable asset for wealth preservation during uncertain times. With the introduction of USDC, Mercado Pago seeks to diversify access to cryptocurrencies and provide its more than 2 million users with an alternative that matches the value of the dollar.
Rachel Mayer, vice president of product at Circle, added that Latin America is an emerging epicenter for the digital economy, with the region seeing innovation and a growing interest in digital dollars. Offering USDC to Mercado Pago users in Chile is a step toward providing more accessible digital financial solutions and enabling global participation in this new era of finance.
The integration of USDC into the Mercado Pago platform will empower “Chilean users to leverage the benefits of a trusted, secure and transparent digital dollar for near-instant transactions,” according to the release. It will also unlock financial opportunities, providing users with greater control over their finances and expanding their access to digital tools.
PYMNTS research found that Chile already has the highest bank usage rate in Latin America, and rising digital expansion has made it a regional leader in digital payments adoption.
Chileans’ digital payment habits have become so entrenched that 62% of consumers said they would not patronize a merchant that did not offer some form of digital payment. The research also found that 68% of millennial consumers in the country expressed interest in learning more about cryptocurrencies and 71% said they would use them if they understood them better.
In August 2022, it was reported that Chilean residents have been using stablecoins to protect assets from high inflation and the lessening value of the peso.
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