EazyPay taps Binance to enable crypto payments

EazyPay has received approval from the Central Bank of Bahrain, and will now be launching cryptocurrency payments for more than 5,000 payment gateways in the nation. The use of cryptocurrencies is increasing in the Kingdom of Bahrain, where local businesses now accept payments made in cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC).

According to EazyPay CEO and founder Nayef Tawfiq Al Alawi, the company has teamed up with Binance Pay to facilitate cryptocurrency payments in Bahrain using its online payment platform, EazyPay, which is regulated by the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB). Nayef Tawfiq Al Alaw further revealed that Bahrain’s more than 5,000 point-of-sale (PoS) terminals and internet payment gateways will accept the recently launched crypto payment option.

By scanning the QR code from Eazy’s PoS using the Binance App, major local businesses and retailers including Lulu Hypermarket, Sharaf DG, Al Zain Jewelry, and Jasmi’s will be able to take more than 70 cryptocurrencies as payment. Al Alawi stressed Eazy Financial Services’ strength is seen in that it is the sixth PoS and online payment gateway acquirer and payment services provider, and mentioned the fact that it is authorised and regulated by Bahrain’s central bank as proof of its credibility.

“Special thanks go to the Central Bank of Bahrain, Binance and Eazy Financial Services,” he added. The CBB’s executive director for banking supervision, Khalid Hamad Al Hamad, also praised Eazy for launching the new crypto payment service.

The crypto payment component of EazyPay, according to Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, would be the “first regulated and approved crypto payments service offering” in the Middle East and North Africa. Binance itself has also secured a number of regulatory licences in Bahrain, including the Category 4 licence and others which legitimises its crypto service operations.

Bahrain, the third-smallest nation in Asia, has been actively embracing cryptocurrencies in recent years. A major indicator of this was the publication of a framework for several cryptocurrency-related activities in 2019 by the CBB, which formally established regulations for licencing, governance, risk management, anti-money laundering standards, reporting, security, and other guidelines for crypto-asset services.

Since adopting crypto laws, Bahrain has been aggressively experimenting with cryptocurrency and blockchain technology. A digital payments study that The CBB ran in conjunction with JPMorgan’s Onyx blockchain and cryptocurrency division was concluded in January 2022. Its local solutions are also gradually spreading internationally, an example is CoinMENA, a key local cryptocurrency exchange governed by the CBB, which disclosed its plans to extend its cryptocurrency trading services into Egypt.