El Salvador’s new Bitcoin wallets could cost Western Union $400M a year

Re:El Salvador’s new Bitcoin wallets could cost Western Unio... by mrweasel on Thursday September 09, 2021 @09:51AM (#28469670)

That's something most of us forget. I was wondering why you wouldn't just do a bank transfer, it's cheap and everyone have a bank account, but that's because I happen to live in a country where the EU ensures that I'm not paying insane fees and where you legally must have a bank account.

Personally I'm still not sure that Bitcoins and Western Union should be part of the solution. It seems "simple" for a country to just cap feed and ensure that everyone have access to banks.

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Re:El Salvador’s new Bitcoin wallets could cost Western Unio... by alkonaut on Thursday September 09, 2021 @09:57AM (#28469736)

This happens everywhere. When I was 20 I went to a UK university as an exchange student and tried to open a bank account (needed for some reason I can’t remember). I expected that to cost zero and not come with any strings attached but the bank person started talking about minimum deposits and yearly fees just to open a standard account.

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Re:El Salvador’s new Bitcoin wallets could cost Western Unio... by el-salvador on Thursday September 09, 2021 @10:04AM (#28469807)

That may be in the UK.

In El Salvador simplified bank accounts require no minimum deposit, can send and receive instant bank transfers to other banks, and some allow the account holder to receive a remittance from the US just by typing remittance ID and amount.

No need to go to the bank either. They can be opened from a website or app with a selfie and a picture of both sides of the ID card.

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