Australia’s DigitalBTC To Launch Disruptive Technology For U.S.-To-Latin America Remittance Market
DigitalBTC, an Australia-based digital payments company, has agreed to form a joint venture company (JVC) to distribute and market a remittance product, AirPocket. The beta launch will begin in the second quarter of this year.
DigitalBTC, which is trading on the Australian Securities Exchange as Digital DC Limited, described AirPocket as a disruptive new technology product targeting the significant and established remittance market. The U.S. to Latin America remittance market is estimated to be $84 billion.
The joint venture will target the remittance sector in the Latin American and Caribbean markets. The joint venture will establish commercial agreements with third parties.
The ‘Uber’ of remittance
AirPocket addresses the problem of how to provide the recipient cash at best rate possible with the least fees. It is like the “Uber of remittance,” according to DigitalBTC.
AirPocket can lower costs because it uses the bitcoin block chain, which dramatically reduces infrastructure costs.
The company will seek partnerships with banks, telecom providers, retailers and distribution networks. The company expects to achieve broader consumer appeal, awareness and usage for AirPocket by working through third parties.
DigitalBTC will hold at least 75 percent interest in the JVC, and its equity partners will have up to a 25 percent stake based on mutually agreed performance criteria. The equity partners include Sanjay Santhanam, Juan Carlos Barrera and William Witenberg. Jorge Nicolau will hold a seat on the advisory board.
Also read: Bitcoin as a medium of exchange: Domestic remittance use case
A quality joint venture team
“The quality of the joint venture team provides strong validation of the commercial potential for AirPocket and I’m confident they are the right people to execute the business strategy in Latin America and the Caribbean and capitalize on the huge potential to disrupt the multi-billion dollar remittance market,” said Zhenya Tsvetnenko, executive chairman of DigitalBTC.
