Despegar (DESP), a leading online travel agency in Latin America, has partnered with Binance Pay to allow customers to pay for their bookings using cryptocurrency in Argentina. This marks the first time an online travel agency in Latin America has accepted crypto as a payment option. The payments will be processed through Binance Pay and converted from crypto to fiat by Inswitch, a cloud-based finance-as-a-service platform. However, this move is expected to revolutionize travel in Argentina and make it more accessible.
Despegar, which operates in 20 markets, has introduced its new payment functionality with plans to expand the service across other countries in the future.
“We recognize that cryptocurrencies are a reality and, as part of this alliance, all Despegar customers in Argentina can now access this world easily.”
Paula Cristi, General Manager of Despegar for Argentina and Uruguay.
In September last year, TravelX—a marketplace for tokenized travel products—opened its doors by offering inventory from the low-cost Argentine airline Flybondi. A month later, Lemon – a Latin American crypto exchange – integrated with TravelX.