Expanded services enable global FinTechs to offer savings accounts in Stellar USDC with several times the earnings rate compared to traditional U.S. dollar accounts
Wyre, a leading blockchain payments company, announced a new Wyre Savings API where FinTechs can access yield-earning savings products leveraging Stellar USDC. Wyre Savings API offers annual yield many times the average traditional U.S. dollar savings account (National average: 0.06%). Wyre enterprise clients have the option to access the Savings API for their own use (e.g., treasury management) or to power feature-rich earning products for their end users.
The new Savings API comes on the heels of a $5 million investment by the Stellar Development Foundation’s Enterprise Fund in Wyre earlier this year. Now, enterprises, Stellar ecosystem partners, and institutions will have access to an easy on-ramp to Stellar-based assets, like USDC, as well as a seamless Savings API. This new functionality is in addition to the Stellar network’s fast, low-cost rails for financial services products and integrations. Earnings in Wyre Savings accounts are paid out monthly and compound in value. Wyre does not charge a fee for on-ramping fiat value via ACH to the savings wallets.
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“We’re excited to make the Wyre Savings API officially available to FinTechs who want to make savings functionality with yield payouts readily available to their users,” said Ioannis Giannaros, Wyre CEO. “With this Savings API, we’re giving FinTechs faster access to deposits and the confidence of doing business with a licensed money transmitter. This is a huge win for early stage FinTechs looking to quickly expand the functionality available to their users– particularly those seeking to accept funds and offer stable currency savings with earning capability in the developing world.”
“The successful development of the new Wyre Savings API is a perfect example of how Stellar can help fuel innovation and connect global financial systems through blockchain technology and strategic investment,” said Denelle Dixon, CEO and Executive Director of the Stellar Development Foundation. “As a Stellar anchor, Wyre’s industry-leading payment APIs — including its savings functionality — provide simple on- and off-ramps to Stellar USDC and high-value offerings to partners in developing countries. By making it easy for FinTechs to accept funds and offer their users a way to earn on savings, Wyre is simplifying and enriching development on Stellar and helping to further strengthen the network as a whole.”
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With more than $5 billion in transfers executed since 2013, Wyre offers an advanced portfolio of financial services to individual, business, and enterprise clients, including fiat-to-crypto on-ramps, payouts, compliance, crypto wallet infrastructure, foreign exchange, and savings accounts. As part of the Stellar ecosystem, Wyre operates in 50 countries, is a licensed money transmitter in 27 U.S. states, and continues to create key payment infrastructure and enable relationships by connecting international financial systems. Mexico City-based FinTech Airtm is one of the first FinTechs to use the Wyre Savings API to expand their services available to users.
According to Josh Kliot, Head of Product and Co-Founder at Airtm, “Using Wyre’s Savings API and Stellar USDC to provide our Latin American clients the ability to accrue earnings has been a tailwind for incentivizing their funds to remain as dollars instead of withdrawing to devaluing local currency, reinforcing our mission to help people throughout the developing world access stable currency financial services.”
Stellar Development Foundation’s Enterprise Fund is a venture-style fund for growing the open-source Stellar network globally. Including Wyre and Airtm, the Fund has invested a total of $24.5 million in global fintech and blockchain companies in FY21, and a total of $33.76 million in investments since fund inception in 2020.
