Paystand, the blockchain-enabled commercial payments platform, announces the launch of Paystand.org.
Paystand.org is the corporate social responsibility (CSR) arm of the financial technology company.
The organization will harness the power of “the blockchain and emerging bitcoin circular economies to create financial opportunities within vulnerable and underrepresented communities.”
Paystand.org has already “provided donations, grants and technical assistance to a range of different NGOs, including Mi Primer Bitcoin (My First Bitcoin), Hope House and Digital NEST’s bizzNEST initiative.”
Paystand.org is rooted in Paystand’s mission: to decentralize “the financial system, transforming businesses toward a better economy.”
The initiative addresses the serious challenges “facing emerging economies globally in financial inclusion, including high inflation, lack of access to banking, burdensome service fees, long payment delays with too many intermediaries, and difficulty obtaining credit and capital.”
These underserved communities also deal “with such issues as workers sending money back home and being hit with unfair charges as high as 6.8%.”
They also must wait days “for their families to receive it — showcasing a clear exploitation of the less fortunate by the financial system.”
For example, in Latin America, “an estimated 70% of the population is unbanked or underbanked, forcing individuals and businesses to rely on informal lenders and personal networks for credit.”
However, in El Salvador, where a bitcoin circular economy “is emerging, more than 2 million underbanked citizens use bitcoin; tourism has increased 30%, bringing foreign investment; and more than $120 million in cross-border remittances was sent last year using bitcoin, avoiding fees for Salvadoran overseas workers supporting their families back home.”
The same is true for other countries “with growing bitcoin economies. Bitcoin use is growing significantly faster than the traditional banking system in these regions, and signals a higher adoption rate of digital currency, driving significantly more inclusive opportunities for the underbanked in Latin America.”
Additionally, integrating blockchain and Bitcoin technologies “with circular economy principles offers a transformative opportunity for Latin America’s 160 million youth, the SMEs that constitute 99% of the business landscape, as well as investors who channel $100 billion in annual finance flows.”
To create this critically needed more inclusive financial landscape and help build economic growth, Paystand.org is taking a holistic approach: by enabling “selected organizations that educate and promote the use of Bitcoin and blockchain technology in emerging and underrepresented communities.”
Jeremy Almond, CEO of Paystand, said:
“Since we started Paystand nearly 10 years ago we’ve built our mission on Bitcoin and blockchain as the key enabler to democratize an unjust financial system. It is more than just technology or investment opportunity for Silicon Valley; it is the critical tool for a more efficient and thriving global economy, and in emerging markets to unlock better equity, access, and economic opportunity for the underbanked. It’s incredibly exciting to see the dual impact Paystand.com can have first on the commercial side of finance, and now with Paystand.org as a catalyzing change agent for financial inclusion for the underrepresented. We hope this dual approach can be a model for how emerging tech companies should approach stewardship. “
The Paystand.org grantees use the funding, mentoring, expertise, basic financial literacy education and technology training – to “build community financial services that can create sustainable and regenerative economic practices.”
Paystand.org is selectively “adding corporations, other foundations, and financial institutions as founding partners in order to increase the philanthropic impact. And starting Feb 15, Paystand.org will begin accepting new grantee applications for 2024 for organizations and projects that will advance its philanthropic mission.”