Launching payments in Honduras: the stack

By Polynopsis team · Last updated 29 October 2026

Paying out in Honduras means paying through banks, CNBS-authorised remittance companies or the authorised e-money institution, in lempiras or, if the beneficiary chooses dollars, by credit to a dollar deposit account, at the Banco Central de Honduras reference rate (TCR) fixed by its daily dollar auction, with payers selling the dollars they accumulate to authorised FX agents by the next business day. Cross-border senders typically use payout partners such as dLocal, Localpayment and Nium, paying banks such as Banco Atlántida and Ficohsa or the Tigo Money wallet, ACH Pronto for lempira account credits, and DNI checks through Didit or Verifik.

Currency	HNL
Local payout rails	ACH Pronto, BCH-TR (Sistema de Liquidación Bruta en Tiempo Real), E-money wallets (INDEL)
Holiday calendar	Honduras bank holidays 2026 and 2027

The Honduras market

The BCH's foreign exchange balance recorded US$12,211.9 million of family remittance inflows in 2025; on a balance of payments basis, which adds pocket remittances, the total was US$12,297.2 million, of which US$11,904.4 million is in the current account (25.3% more than in 2024 and 29.6% of GDP) and US$392.8 million in the capital account. source
Remittances received from January to July 2026 totalled US$7,692.2 million, 11.2% more than a year earlier, against 25.3% growth over the same period of 2025. source
From January to August 2026 remittances made up 46.2% of all foreign currency inflows to Honduras (BCH). source
The United States supplied 98.37% of remittances received to December 2025, and Francisco Morazán and Cortés departments received 47.0% of the total (CNBS). source
In 2025, 64.7% of remittances were paid through physical channels, 20.9% through digital channels and 14.5% through correspondent agents; of the US$10,924.01 million recorded by the CNBS, remittance companies handled 11.0% (US$1,196.64 million). source
The World Bank puts Honduras's personal remittances received at US$11,927 million in 2025 (World Development Indicators, updated 8 October 2026). source

Licensing: who can pay out in Honduras

Persons engaged in money remittance must be authorised, registered and supervised by the Comisión Nacional de Bancos y Seguros (CNBS), under the Reglamento para la Autorización y Funcionamiento de las Sociedades Remesadoras de Dinero in force since its publication in La Gaceta on 30 November 2009. source
Only the BCH and institutions its board authorises as agentes cambiarios (banks, casas de cambio and savings and loan associations) can trade foreign currency; anyone else can hold FX assets but must trade them with the BCH or through an authorised agent (Reglamento para la Negociación en el Mercado Organizado de Divisas, in force from 25 February 2026). source
The BCH regulation on payment services using electronic money (Acuerdo 12-2022, La Gaceta 26 August 2022) lets a non-bank e-money institution (INDEL) credit wallets with international remittances, acting as the payment agent of a remittance company. source
CNBS Circular 003/2024 of 12 February 2024 prohibits CNBS-supervised institutions from holding, investing in, intermediating or operating with cryptocurrencies, tokens or other virtual assets not issued or authorised by the BCH, and from letting users use their platforms for such operations. source
The CNBS register of remittance companies lists Correo y Remesas Electrónicas, S.A. and Remesadora El Hermano Lejano Express, S.A. among authorised registrants. source

This page explains the rules in general terms and is not legal or regulatory advice. Check the primary source and take advice on how the rules apply to your firm.

Payout rails in Honduras

Rail	Operator	What matters for payouts	Source
ACH Pronto	Ceproban (Centro de Procesamiento Interbancario), overseen by the BCH	Online transfers with immediate credit; the receiving institution must accept or reject within 30 minutes or funds are returned. Clearing cycles run 08:31 to 17:00 (settled 17:15) and 17:01 to 08:30 (settled 08:45).	source
BCH-TR (Sistema de Liquidación Bruta en Tiempo Real)	Banco Central de Honduras	RTGS system live since 4 March 2013 that settles high-value interbank and third-party transfers one by one in real time without netting, and also settles other payment systems such as the ACH.	source
E-money wallets (INDEL)	BCH-authorised, CNBS-supervised non-bank e-money institution	Wallets can receive salary, pension and family remittance credits up to a L25,000 balance and per-transaction limit and L50,000 of transactions a month (limits last raised in October 2023), against L15,000 and L30,000 for other operations; there were 442,836 active wallet accounts in 2025.	source

The Honduras payments stack, layer by layer

The providers below are a starting shortlist for each layer, described from their own documentation. Confirm terms, coverage and licences with each provider.

Payout and collection partners

Provider	What it does in Honduras	Source
dLocal · our guide	Pays out in Honduras by bank transfer for B2C, B2B and remittance (P2P) flows, in lempiras by default or in US dollars to USD accounts when requested, validating DNI (13 digits) and RTN (14 digits).	source
Localpayment	Pays lempiras to Honduran bank accounts over ACH Pronto, T+1 with a 12:00 local cut-off; balances are funded by bank wire or USDC and USDT.	source
Nium · our guide	Pays to all SWIFT-enabled banks in Honduras by foreign currency wire in 10 currencies (T1, 07:30 UTC processing cut-off) and in lempiras by Visa Direct, listed as instant.	source
Tigo Money	Mobile wallet where Hondurans claim Western Union, MoneyGram and Vigo remittances of up to L25,000.	source

Local banking and settlement accounts

Provider	What it does in Honduras	Source
Banco Atlántida	Has alliances with remittance companies in the United States, Spain and other countries to pay remittances to Banco Atlántida accounts.	source
Banco Ficohsa	Pays remittances from 18 remittance companies, including Western Union through AirPak since July 2024, at all branches and through digital channels.	source

FX and liquidity

Provider	What it does in Honduras	Source
BCH Subasta de Divisas (SENDI)	Daily auction in which the BCH sells dollars to authorised agentes cambiarios; bids must fall within a band of 1% either side of a centre set from the BCH base price (80%) and the auction's weighted average rate (20%) over the previous seven days.	source
Tipo de Cambio de Referencia (TCR)	The weighted average rate of offers allocated in the auction, valid for the next day until the next auction; it was L26.8842 per US dollar on 24 September 2026.	source
Agentes cambiarios	Banks, casas de cambio and savings and loan associations authorised by the BCH board; they buy at the TCR, sell small amounts at the TCR plus a commission of up to 0.5%, and cannot sell a private client US$10,000 or more in one day.	source

KYC and KYB providers

Provider	What it does in Honduras	Source
Didit	API that verifies a 13-digit Honduran DNI against registry records in real time (service hnd_dni).	source
Verifik	Identity API that validates official documents from 20 countries including Honduras, where it verifies the DNI.	source

Funding and prefunding HNL payouts

Remittances can be paid in dollars or lempiras at the TCR in force on the contract date (or on the payment date where the origin country does not require the rate on the receipt); dollar payouts must go to a dollar deposit account in the beneficiary's name, and payers must sell the dollars accumulated from lempira payouts to an authorised FX agent by the next business day. source
Agentes cambiarios must sell 100% of their daily foreign currency inflows to the BCH by the next business day; dollars reaching the BCH after 12:00 are credited in lempiras only on the next business day. source
The BCH sells dollars through its auction, where agentes cambiarios enter bids from 09:45 to 10:45 for resident clients and for their own needs, pooling client requests below the US$10,000 auction minimum. source
At LAFISE, ACH transfers of up to US$30,000 (or the lempira equivalent) run Monday to Sunday, 05:00 to 22:00, while larger LBTR transfers run Monday to Friday, 08:45 to 16:45, so large payouts are limited to weekday hours. source
Since 1 January 2026 the United States has charged a 1% tax on remittance transfers, as the Electronic Fund Transfer Act defines them (transfers that consumers send to recipients abroad), when the sender pays the provider in cash, by money order, by cashier's check or with a similar physical instrument; transfers funded from an account at a US financial institution or with a US-issued debit or credit card are exempt. The sender owes the tax, and the provider collects it and remits it quarterly. source

Size the prefund to your runway target with the corridor runway calculator and the Honduras holiday calendar.

Launch checklist

Plan: launch volume, the prefund sized to your runway target including weekends and holidays, the contracting entity and the funding route.
Open accounts: shortlist payout partners and a local banking route from the layers above, and prepare the onboarding pack.
Set up: read access to every new balance, a runway target with alerts, and the corridor in your daily reports.
Go live: the first prefund and a test payout, then daily monitoring.

Polynopsis turns this into one plan with named approvals, then shows every Honduras partner, bank and wallet in one live position. See how a corridor launch works.

Frequently asked questions

Can Honduran beneficiaries receive remittances in dollars?

Yes. Under the BCH's 2026 FX regulation remittances can be paid in dollars or lempiras, but dollar payouts must be credited to a dollar deposit account in the beneficiary's name at an authorised institution.

What happens to the dollars behind lempira payouts?

Payers must sell the dollars accumulated from lempira payouts to an authorised FX agent by the next business day, and agents sell 100% of their daily FX inflows to the BCH by the next business day.

How is the lempira rate set?

By the BCH's daily dollar auction on SENDI, with bids from 09:45 to 10:45 inside a 1% band. The TCR is the weighted average of allocated offers and was L26.8842 per dollar on 24 September 2026.

How do lempira account credits settle?

ACH Pronto credits immediately, with clearing cycles settled at 17:15 and 08:45. Banks such as LAFISE cap ACH at US$30,000 per transfer, seven days a week from 05:00 to 22:00; larger payments use the BCH's RTGS, BCH-TR, on weekdays.

Who licenses remittance companies in Honduras?

The CNBS authorises, registers and supervises remittance companies; only BCH-authorised agentes cambiarios can trade FX. The authorised e-money institution can credit wallets with remittances as a remittance company's payment agent.

Can stablecoins settle Honduran payouts?

Not through supervised institutions. CNBS Circular 003/2024 prohibits them from holding or operating with virtual assets not issued or authorised by the BCH.

Other markets

Sources

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About Polynopsis

Polynopsis is liquidity management software for cross-border payment companies. The name joins poly, many, and synopsis, a seeing together: one live view of money spread across many banks, payout partners, exchanges and stablecoin wallets, including money in flight, with a warning before any corridor runs dry.

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