Ripple Inc, the company behind xRapid–which use XRP as a liquidity tool, is always working overtime to be the preferred remittance platform. The company has now announced that it will be crossing over to Southeast Asia through a settlement bank, where existing services have failed to meet demand. Ripple, which offers global real-time settlement solutions, plans to bridge this gap and help millions of people send and receive funds from across the world and into Southeast Asia.
A Corridor of Pain and Opportunity
In a recent event in Bangkok, the company acknowledged that there was great demand for its services in APAC region. An executive pointed out that there are millions of migrant workers who always send funds back home—diaspora remittance estimated to be around $68 billion. And sending these monies are mostly low-income workers working overseas who find existing services to be charging a premium but transaction processing takes eons, delaying their plans in the process.
However, courtesy of blockchain, things are gradually changing–for the better. Paul Arriyavat, Vice President, Disruptive Technology Office, Siam Commercial Bank (SCB), who was one of the speakers at the event, noted that his company has tried out different solutions with no success. Finally, his company turned to blockchain technology, where they are finally seeing positive results.
“Blockchain technology became our core [platform] for solving this pain point,” explained Arriyavat. “We started with Thai migrant workers living in Japan and helped them send money home through 30,000 ATMs.”
Clearly, the solution brought by Ripple is unmatched. With a clear objective of creating an internet of value, what they are proposing and implementing is benefiting end users and processing firms. Evidently, although the backbone of different economies, sending money via
legacy systems can be frustrating and expensive. Ripple wants to change this and ensure that money can be transferred across borders seamlessly. One executive from Ripple says confirmed how their solutions are in demand and that existing services simply can’t keep up.
” Demand in APAC for fast, affordable cross-border remittances is growing, but existing services can’t keep up”
New Corridors, New Opportunities, Increased User Base
Perhaps to address this need, Asheesh Birla, Ripple’s SVP of product, now says the company is working on the next set of destinations (xRapid corridors) and they will hopefully be announcing in days ahead. Expectedly, this will open new markets and bring new customers keen on experiencing or leveraging modern solutions for money transfer or remittance.
As Ripple ease integration into RippleNet while simultaneously expanding its xRapid corridors, it will no doubt attract new users cementing its position as they edge closer to meeting their objectives.
