Strike, the world’s leading digital payments platform built on Bitcoin’s Lightning Network, announced the expansion of its “Send Globally” product to the Philippines.
“Send Globally” will now enable fast, secure, and low-cost money transfers between the U.S. and the Philippines, thereby revolutionizing traditional cross-border payment services.
The Philippines is one of the world’s largest remittance markets and its people and economy rely on more than US$35 billion annually in money sent from abroad, including more than US$12 billion from the U.S. alone.
Strike has also partnered with Pouch.ph in the Philippines to enable transfers from U.S. dollars that are received as Philippine pesos in a recipient’s bank or mobile money account in the Philippines.
“Remittances are a broken system and Strike delivers an incredibly empowering experience for people to send money around the world in nearly an instant,” said Jack Mallers, Founder and CEO of Strike.
“We’re excited to partner with Pouch.ph to advance financial inclusion and bring fast, low-cost cross-border payments via the Lightning Network to the Philippines. Our technology allows us to both improve on the existing cross-border experience and include those that have previously been excluded by legacy payment rails,” he added.
Strike uses the Lightning Network to make digital payments faster, cheaper, and more accessible for people globally, particularly in countries with a high number of unbanked individuals.
With “Send Globally,” dollars are converted into bitcoin, which is sent via the Lightning Network to a third-party partner operating in the recipient’s country. That partner then converts the bitcoin into local currency, which is sent directly to the recipient’s bank or mobile money account. This way, neither the sender nor the recipient has to worry about bitcoin’s tax treatment, dollar volatility, or custody implications.
“The U.S. to the Philippines remittance market is one of the largest in the world, and until now, most Filipino-Americans have been limited to outdated options,” said Ethan Rose, Founder and CEO of Pouch.ph.
“However, with the integration of Pouch.ph and Strike, we’re revolutionizing the way cross-border payments are made, empowering people to easily send money to their loved ones back home. We’re proud to be a part of building the world’s most powerful payment network for global transactions,” he added.
Strike launched “Send Globally” in December 2022, starting with transfers from the U.S. to Nigeria, Kenya, and Ghana. The user experience and ability to bridge communities in the U.S. and Africa, in partnership with Bitnob, have been transformational and the opportunities for Strike in these and other markets are developing fast.
As of today, “Send Globally” is available for millions of people sending money to the Philippines and for use by tourists and businesses.
Strike also vows to continue to expand into more markets and leverage integrations with local partners to provide better payment services to communities across the globe.