Spanish neobank jointly launches debit card with Paxful

Bitcoin (BTC) P2P marketplace Paxful has partnered with Spanish neobank Bnext to launch its first crypto debit card in Mexico.

The partnership will allow Paxful’s Mexican customers to use their crypto funds to pay with a debit card in any national and foreign point-of-sale, or PoS, and even withdraw cash from ATMs without fees.

Bnext customers will also have direct access to the P2P marketplace to buy and sell crypto. Paxful explained in the announcement that “strict banking regulations” in Mexico are encouraging people to focus on cryptocurrencies, and quoted figures from crypto exchange Bitso that revealed a growth of 342% in the crypto exchange's volume in Mexico from September 2019 to May 2020.

Ray Youseff, CEO and co-founder of Paxful, called the partnership a critical step towards financial inclusion:

“At Paxful, we are delighted to have Bnext on board in our mission to bring financial inclusion closer. Together, we work to offer a safe banking alternative to the Mexican population, while making cryptocurrency trading more accessible globally. It's about joining forces with the right partners, for the right reasons.”

Bnext is also the latest addition to Paxful's list of more than 300 payment methods, offering Mexican users the ability to buy and sell Bitcoin and Tether (USDT) on the marketplace.

In July, Cointelegraph Spanish reported that Colombia, Argentina, and Mexico are among the six countries with the most cryptocurrency users in the world.

UPDATE (October 29):  The card itself is to be issued by Bnext, though the project is endorsed by Paxful's P2P marketplace.