Stablecoins are proving to be well-liked among the many unbanked in Mexico. Constructing on the demand for these providers, Chipi Pay, the Mexican-based prefunded stablecoin pockets, has expanded its providers within the nation, following a partnership with Starknet Basis, a high-performance Layer 2 scaling answer that brings safety, decentralisation, and ultra-low transaction charges to Ethereum.
The brand new collaboration will see Chipi Pay bridge the hole between conventional finance and the Web3 ecosystem for customers and retailers and energy funds for over 50 million Mexican residents. Its present providing includes offering an accessible various to conventional banking for small companies in Mexico and Latin America, which face fee processing charges between three and 5 per cent per transaction.
In distinction, Chipi Pay facilitates transactions with negligible charges and quicker settlements. Consequently, retailers utilizing Chipi Pay can course of transactions with out delays. The platform permits funds through QR codes, NFC, and direct transfers.
The underlying crypto expertise is abstracted away — most customers don’t even realise they’re utilizing crypto. That is largely as a result of app’s lack of crypto jargon. This, along with the truth that retailers obtain funds in fiat foreign money, makes onboarding easy for first-time customers. Customers can even take pleasure in an expertise with out complicated pockets administration. Eliminating fuel charges and guaranteeing clean funds, Chipi Pay acts as a shopper instrument and ‘crypto rails’ answer for banks and occasion suppliers, disrupting the monopoly of enormous processors.
Chipi Pay selected Starknet for its negligible transaction charges, enabling cost-effective funds. Starknet Basis additionally offered complete assets that remodeled their enterprise, from technical assist to product incubation, fundraising help, and strategic suggestions, accelerating each expertise and firm development.
Partnering with Starknet
Chipi Pay is led by CEO Carlos Castillo, a former founding CTO of a Y-Combinator-backed firm with a confirmed observe report, having raised over $2million in complete funding for prior startups.
“Monetary providers in Mexico must work for everybody—not simply these with entry to conventional banking,” mentioned Carlos Castillo, CEO of Chipi Pay.
“By constructing on Starknet, we’re capable of supply a funds answer that’s really constructed for the folks—cheaper, quicker, and extremely simple to make use of. As soon as customers are on-chain, they will spend on important providers, pay payments, or obtain payroll all via Chipi Pay and with out the necessity of conventional banking rails. We’re excited to work with the Starknet Basis to make Web3 funds a actuality for tens of millions throughout Latin America.”
“Starknet was constructed to energy the subsequent era of economic functions,” mentioned James Strudwick, CEO of the Starknet Basis. “Chipi Pay is an unimaginable instance of how Web3 can drive real-world influence—providing an answer that’s quicker, cheaper, and extra inclusive than conventional finance. We’re proud to assist their imaginative and prescient as they scale throughout Mexico and past.”
With Starknet set to turn into the primary Layer-2 to decide on each Ethereum and Bitcoin, growing the latter’s utility as a part of its mission to make funds extra accessible, its dedication to Chipi Pay aligns with its core imaginative and prescient for DeFi.
Making funds easy
Guided by the precept of ‘ease of use,’ Chipi Pay is designed to be 80 per cent easier than banks and 10x cheaper than fee aggregators in Mexico. Six months post-launch, the typical ticket dimension on the app grew from $1.5 to $32—a x21 leap pushed by belief and higher-value use instances like utility funds and cellular plans.
Chipi Pay has secured a significant distribution deal, partnering with a CPG distributor to position stablecoin present playing cards throughout 270,000+ mother & pop outlets in Mexico. With entry to over 65 per cent of the nation’s financial system, this transfer will assist drive adoption in a community historically reliant on pay as you go cellphone playing cards.
Chipi Pay plans to evolve right into a full-service monetary platform, increasing past funds to supply micro-loans and yield-generating investments, positioning itself as a aggressive various to Mexico’s banking platforms. Growth plans embody deeper penetration into Latin America and rising markets like India.
