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Announcing Changes to the Abra Teller Program

Update: As of October 31, 2017 Abra Tellers are no longer available outside of the Philippines. Thanks to everyone who participated in this trial program and gave us valuable feedback.

Ever since we launched the Abra Teller program earlier this year, consumers have been using Abra Tellers to buy and sell bitcoin, send and receive remittances, and grow a global community of people interested in the future of mobile digital payments.

We’ve recently made some updates to how consumers and Tellers are matched within the Abra app. These changes are based on feedback we’ve been getting from both Tellers and consumers. Starting today, Abra will be matching transaction requests from users with Tellers in their area. This will reduce the friction of having to contact multiple tellers, instead letting Abra take over this process.

The New Concierge Model

How to initiate a Teller transaction: After pressing ‘Add Money (fiat-denominated wallets)/Buy Bitcoin (bitcoin-denominated wallets)’ then ‘Cash’, the user will be asked for more details about the type of transaction they want to do. In this example the user wishes to withdraw cash, so the following screen will appear:

Withdraw cash in person through Abra using Bitcoin

After pressing ‘Continue’, the next screen will appear:

Withdraw cash in person through Abra using Bitcoin.

On this screen, enter the amount of money you want to deposit/withdraw, your preferred meeting location, your email, along with any notes. In the notes section, you may add any additional requests, such as being unavailable on a certain date. To change your preferred meeting location, press on the map, and a new screen will appear:

Search Location - Buy or sell Bitcoin with cash using Abra

If you need to change the location, just drag the marker to your preferred meeting location, and then press ‘Set preferred location’. (However, you and your Teller can change the meeting location at a later point in the transaction process, if needed.) Once you’ve entered all the information, press ‘Continue’, and a confirmation screen will appear:

Confirm details of your Abra Teller transaction to buy/sell Bitcoin.

Should all the information look correct, go ahead and Submit! Abra will handle the teller matching, and you’ll receive an email once a Teller has been found for you. Along with receiving the details of your Teller transaction, you will receive your Teller’s contact information. Please reach out to them to arrange a meeting time, or to make other specific requests. If you have general questions about the process, don’t hesitate to ask your Abra representative!

Once you meet up with your Abra Teller, the transaction will proceed as it always has – (for an example, take a look at Using Abra to Buy Bitcoin with Cash, from “Step 4 – Meet Your Abra Teller” onwards). If you are happy with your teller transaction, you can simply reach out directly to them the next time you wish to transact with a Teller, instead of repeating this request process.

We hope this update will streamline the experience of setting up Abra Teller transactions. We’d love to hear from you about your experiences.

*This change will occur in every country except the Philippines, which will retain the current transaction model.

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About Abra

Established in 2014, Abra is on a mission to create a simple and honest platform that enables millions of cryptocurrency holders to maximize the potential of their assets. Abra enables both individuals and businesses to safely and securely buy, trade, and borrow against cryptocurrencies – all in one place. Abra’s vision is an open, global financial system that is easily accessible to everyone.

Why Abra

Based in the United States, Abra is available in over 150 countries and makes it easy to convert between crypto and a wide variety of local fiat currencies. With over 2MM customers, $7B in transactions processed, and $1.5B in assets under management, Abra continues to grow rapidly. Abra is widely loved and trusted – in April 2022, pymnts.com reviewed and rated Abra amongst the top 5 most popular crypto wallets in the market. Abra is backed by top-tier investors such as American Express Ventures and First Round Capital.

How Abra Protects Your Funds

Abra places clients’ financial objectives and security first. Abra practices a culture of risk management across all levels and functions within the organization.

Abra employs a state-of-the-art enterprise risk management framework that comprises a comprehensive set of policies, procedures, and practices detailing all applicable risk-related objectives and constraints for the entirety of the business. Abra has instituted a complete set of requisite systems and controls that continuously enforce these policies, procedures, and practices to manage all operations, including credit and lending. Abra’s independent Risk Committee comprises experienced compliance, risk, securities, and fraud operations professionals with backgrounds in industries ranging from traditional and digital assets banking, payments, remittance, to fintech.

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