Latam Based Crypto Exchange Bitso Launches QR Payment Service for Tourists in Argentina

Bitso, one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in Latam, has launched a QR payments program geared towards travelers in Argentina. The service proposal seeks to ease the way in which travelers and tourists make payments in the country, using Bitso’s interoperable QR payment technology to avoid unnecessary and often confusing cash exchange transactions in the region, where there are multiple dollar exchange rates.

Bitso, one of the leading cryptocurrency exchanges in Latam, has launched a QR-based payments service that aims to allow travelers to pay with cryptocurrencies in Argentina.

The service seeks to make the lives of tourists arriving in the country easier, by allowing them to pay for services and goods with cryptocurrencies at all merchants using the popular QR payments method. Bitso’s objective is to serve as an integral payment service, avoiding the hassle of exchanging foreign currency for cash in a country like Argentina where there are more than 14 different dollar exchange rates.

About this development, Santiago Alvarado, SVP of product at Bitso, stated:

Most restaurants, supermarkets, and shops accept QR payments. By offering this product to foreigners visiting Argentina, we are helping them make the most of their money and time by avoiding exchanging cash for local currency and letting them make contactless crypto payments in seconds right from their phones.

The service will receive stablecoins, bitcoin, and ether, and will make instant exchanges at the time of payment, with the counterparty receiving Argentine pesos.

Bitso aims to capture some of the growing streams of tourists that are traveling to the country after the Covid-19 quarantine season has ended. According to the company, Latam’s tourism industry is experiencing a resurgence, with searches for places to travel in the area growing by 113%.

Bitso is able to offer this functionality due to the implementation of QR payments that the company announced in September, giving users the capability to pay in an immense number of stores and merchants that are already using this new form of payment. The company included this function to allow customers that had been using the platform as a savings tool to pay with their cryptocurrencies, avoiding external cash exchanges.

QR payments have also been growing steadily in the country, reaching a record number of more than three million payments made using this tool in September.

What do you think about Bitso’s QR payments program for tourists in Argentina? Tell us in the comments section below.