Santander Partners With Ripple To Bring a Payment App to Over 19 Countries
Last Friday Santander announced a partnership with blockchain payments system Ripple to reinforce its presence and cross-border services to some new regions.
The Spanish banking heavyweight is the 16th largest banking institution on the planet. It has been working with Ripple since 2018, but after Friday, more than 19 new countries and regions will be served via the One Pay FX application.
Expanding to New Markets.
Ripple confirmed in an announcement that One Pay FX will now be available in new markets such as the US, Chile, and Portugal. All countries announced already have Santander banking facilities available, however, didn’t have the bank’s RippleNet capabilities.
Ed Metzger CTO of One Pay FX said: “We’re looking to expand One Pay FX to new territories and customer segments so more people can benefit from faster, cheaper, and more transparent international payments.”
The bank said that most of its feedback from its 140 million worldwide users centred on the lacking of transparency of international transfers.
Metzger added that clients also requested a “better” international payments process, which culminated in the bank seeking Ripple’s expertise in blockchain solutions for faster cross-border transactions.
He went on to say that transactions weren’t the only focus: “It’s not just the technology. Being part of RippleNet has helped us to forge sustainable and scalable relationships with other financial institutions around the world.”
Domestic Transfers = International Payments
Metzger added today’s clients now see international payments in the same light as domestic transfers, recalling they have “so much confidence” in the low cost, same-day process that “it’s no longer a big deal to send money abroad.”
In 2018 One Pay FX was launched as a partnership between Ripple and Santander. The first regions served were the UK, Poland, Brazil, and Spain. The venture transpired as part of Santander’s InnoVentures technology innovation fund.
Ana Botin Santander’s chairman said in the release: The lower transaction fees and quicker settlement speeds alongside the improved transparency around every payment have seen very positive client feedback since One Pay FX’s launch.
She added that 50% of the bank’s yearly international transfers can now be handled by the app. This percentage is only set to increase as the service rolls out to more countries and clients.
