Visa Direct and PayPal’s cross-border remittance service, Xoom, have joined forces to allow debit card holders to receive such funds within minutes.
Available in 25 countries – including the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Ukraine and Vietnam – users can settle cross boarder transactions within minutes, down from the average waiting time of up to 5 business days. This leap is especially notable given the inconveniences the above mentioned territories suffer when it comes to sending and receiving international payments.
Wei-Lin Lee, PayPal’s vice president of remittances, believes Xoom’s new feature will be especially popular during winter and holidays, as money is typically transferred between friends and family during those periods.
Yanilsa Gonzalez-Ore, head of Visa Direct North America head, noted increased demand for “digital solutions that help remove barriers”.
This is a major step forward for PayPal, regarding the utilization of blockchain technology to solve real world problems. Crypto trading via the platform became available for customers in the United Kingdom in 2021. Native transfers of digital assets between PayPal and third parties – like external wallets or exchanges – went live in 2022.