ACH Bank transfers in Honduras cost around 35 to 40 Honduran Lempira, which is roughly $1.5 in US dollars. For context, this is equal to more than 50% of the country’s minimum wage, more than 1% of the cost of rent in Ciudad Morazán and can be as much as 60% of a utility bill. To avoid bank transfer fees, residents must wait in line at the bank to make a cash deposit–a very time-consuming process.

Thus, COMPAÑÍA HÍDRICA Y ELÉCTRICA DE CIUDAD MORAZÁN (CHEM), Ciudad Morazán’s primary utility company, was excited to learn that the eCash community had both the technology and personnel needed to implement a low-cost 24/7 bill pay solution in Ciudad Morazán.

After testing the solution for a few weeks, CHEM officially started accepting eCash and eLPS (a Lempira-denominated eToken) payments in January and has already had its first payment. Given that the transfer fees are 100x cheaper than a Honduran ACH transfer, it expects many more payments in the coming months and, more importantly, happier customers!