Pay registers almost 10,000 active users, mainly small entrepreneurs. Starting in May 2026, users will be able to top up and withdraw at bank branches. El Salvador announced the Pay system to bank with US dollars for the population that still operates exclusively in cash. After the cooling of the Chivo Wallet, the Central Reserve Bank (BCR) assumes control of the digital strategy with an interoperable tool that does not include the use of bitcoin (BTC). The platform works through the Unique Identity Document (DUI), eliminating the need for previous bank accounts or initial deposits. This low barrier to entry allows any citizen with a mobile phone immediately access the system formal financial through the state infrastructure Transfer365. «The payment system is immediate, available at all times and has no cost,» confirmed the BCR in its official statement of March 12, 2026. Currently, the deployment is concentrated in markets and in the Historic Center of San Salvador through the use of QR codes for daily transactions. Starting in May 2026, the network will expand to the entire private financial system. It is ensured that users will be able to make recharges and withdrawals at no cost at any banking agency, even without being clients of the institution. Besides, the State will channel payments to contractors of the next Economic Census through this means, as detailed in the statement. The National Survey of Inclusion and Financial Education 2025 (ENIEF), published by the Central Reserve Bank, indicates that 46.9% of Salvadorans have a savings account in a formal financial institution. This figure represents an increase compared to the 28% recorded in the 2022 survey. The report does not establish a direct relationship with the use of the Chivo Wallet, whose interest has decreased in recent years, according to previous adoption data and reports from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Nayib Bukele’s monetary duality in El Salvador
The Salvadoran government later pledged to reduce or eliminate its participation in the state’s implementation of bitcoin as part of an agreement with the IMF, as reported by BitcoinDynamic. However, users report that The application is still operational and you can carry out transactions normally. So far, no official details have been released regarding the current status of the sale or decommissioning process. Now, with 10,000 active users, Pay is emerging as the technical response to the lessons learned since 2021 when El Salvador adopted bitcoin as a legal currency and launched the state platform for its adoption. With variants, the country maintains the legal tender of bitcoin, but prioritizes a parallel path in dollars to integrate the sectors that decentralization failed to achieve. Under the administration of Nayib Bukele, El Salvador is traveling on a double track. On the one hand, the National Bitcoin Office maintains its rhetoric of digital sovereignty; On the other hand, economic reality is anchored in the dollar as a safeguard against financial inequality. Meanwhile, the real test for Pay will be convincing ordinary Salvadorans that the State is, finally, a more efficient custodian than the mattress or bitcoin wallet it offered in the past. If this system achieves full interoperability in May, the country will have finally built the digital rail that promised with BTCbut that technical friction did not allow it to consolidate.
