This past week, SukuPay, a cryptocurrency-cross-border payments company, has been fully embedded as the remittance engine inside Zigi, the mobile app of Banco Industrial, Guatemala’s largest bank. SukuPay claims this is the first time a crypto-native protocol has gone live at this depth inside a top-tier Latin American retail bank.
Guatemalans can now receive funds from the U.S. instantly and securely for a flat 99-cent fee, using a phone number through their existing bank app.
“This isn’t a feature — it’s a financial infrastructure upgrade,” said Yonathan Lapchik, CEO of SukuPay. “By embedding SukuPay inside Zigi, Banco Industrial has become the first bank in Latin America to fully adopt stablecoin rails as a core remittance engine. We’re not offering a crypto product. We’re powering real-world payments that actually work for real people — banked or unbanked.”
Each year, more than $165 billion is sent in remittances from the U.S. to Latin America, with Guatemala receiving more than $21 billion. That makes it the second-largest recipient in Latin America after Mexico. However, traditional remittance services remain outdated and burdened by high fees, slow settlement, and painful user experiences.
SukuPay users send and receive money through phone-number-based identity, embedded within the familiar Zigi app. Whether initiated by debit card, Apple Pay, or cash at retailers like Walmart or CVS, funds arrive in Guatemala in under 20 seconds.
Rather than building their cross-border infrastructure from scratch, Banco Industrial, through its consumer app Zigi, partnered with SukuPay to modernize remittances without compromising on compliance, customer trust, or user experience.
“With SukuPay’s infrastructure embedded directly into Zigi, we’re not just improving remittances, we’re setting a new standard,” said Michel Caputi, head of Strategic Alliances Division at Banco Industrial. “This is a modern solution to a legacy problem — and we’re proud to lead the way in Latin America.”
The company said this partnership isn’t just about sending money faster, it’s about redefining what’s possible when crypto infrastructure disappears into the background. SukuPay provides a compliant, scalable layer that lets traditional banks reclaim market leadership without requiring their users or teams to navigate the complexities of crypto.