Cashaa, United Multistate Cooperative Society launch crypto bank 'Unicas'

Fintech firm Cashaa and United Multistate Credit Cooperative Society on Monday launched a crypto bank that allows users to transact in cryptocurrency and fiat from one account.

The partnership will enable Cashaa to access United's regulatory licenses, its physical branches, and overall banking infrastructure, the company said in a statement.

The bank named as Unicas is initially opening its services online and through 14 branches across NCR, Rajasthan, and Gujarat by January 2021, and plans to expand to 100 branches by the end of 2022.

“This will allow us to build, scale and offer customized financial and crypto products for the local Indian markets” Unicas CEO Dinesh Kukreja said.

"Users will be able to deposit and withdraw through a savings account the way they operate with traditional banks in India. This is the first time in the world a financial institution has enabled cryptocurrency trade through physical branches," it said.

Unicas will provide banking services for both fiat and crypto assets, it said adding that services include savings accounts, crypto exchange, crypto loan and debit cards to spend crypto.

Users may receive an instant loan digitally by depositing crypto assets in the Unicas wallet and requesting the equivalent value of INR on their card or bank account, it said.

With the rollout of the initial 14 branches, Unicas aims to onboard 25,000 customers within the first quarter of 2021. Cashaa has already been providing its services to more than 200 crypto exchanges, wallets and startups dealing in crypto.