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Tourist Payments

Scenario: International traveler paying local merchants when traditional payment methods fail

Example: Spanish tourist in Venezuela, credit card blocked/not accepted

The Problem

Traditional friction:

Credit cards don’t work abroad (blocked by bank, not accepted locally)
ATMs charge high fees or unavailable
Cash exchange has poor rates and spreads
Tourist stuck without payment method

Asgaya Solution

Flow:

Tourist opens Asgaya at merchant
Pays BCH seller via Bizum/preferred payment method (Spanish bank account works)
Merchant receives BCH payment instantly
Tourist gets goods/services

Key benefit: Tourist’s home bank account works anywhere there’s an Asgaya merchant

Why This Works

For tourist:

Use familiar payment method (Bizum, bank transfer)
Avoid cash exchange fees/spreads
No credit card foreign transaction fees
Works even when cards are blocked

For merchant:

Receives BCH (converts to local currency if needed)
Avoids credit card processing fees (2-3%)
Expands customer base to international travelers
0-conf enables instant settlement

Required Infrastructure

Merchant network: Dense enough that tourists can find participating merchants

BCH liquidity: Passive sellers providing BCH in tourist’s home country

0-conf acceptance: Enables point-of-sale speed (1-3 minutes vs 10-15 minutes)

Status

Phase 1+ - After remittance infrastructure proven and merchant network established

Technical Flow

This use case follows Customer Flow 2 from the Customer Journey - tourist needs to buy BCH at point of sale using home payment method (Bizum), then merchant receives BCH payment.

Key difference from standard customer flow: Tourist is typically a one-time customer (not repeat), so merchant relationship is transactional rather than relationship-based.

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