According to the World Bank, global remittance payments are on track to grow by 3.4 percent or roughly $466 billion in 2018, with India and China having the highest incoming flows in 2017.
Together with this massive flow of capital, emerging markets are home to 85 percent of the global population and account for almost 60 percent of global GDP.
With a growing global need not just for access, but more efficient, transparent and cost-effective payments into and out of emerging markets — new financial institutions have joined RippleNet: two banks and three payment providers — that will expand reach in India, Brazil and China.
Itaú Unibanco, Brazil’s largest private sector bank and Latin America’s biggest bank by market capitalization; IndusInd, a leading private sector bank in India; and InstaReM, a major remittance provider based in Singapore, will use xCurrent to provide faster, more transparent cross-border payments to other financial institutions around the world.
Two fast-growing global remittance providers, Beetech in Brazil and Zip Remit in Canada, will both use xVia to open payment corridors for their customers around the world. Additionally, both will look to establish a connection for their customers into China, an opportunity that is now possible thanks to the recent addition of LianLian International to RippleNet earlier this month.
RippleNet members have increased access to Southeast Asia
With over 500,000 transactions per year from Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Singapore and India, InstaRem will use RippleNet to connect their customers to over 60 countries worldwide.
Prajit Nanu, co-founder and CEO of InstaReM, is excited to see the company join RippleNet and to serve as an additional bridge into broader Southeast Asia for other RippleNet members.
“We are pleased to partner with Ripple,” said Nanu. “Now, RippleNet members will be able to process a large number of payouts in Southeast Asian countries through InstaReM’s secure rails.”
InstaRem is able to send funds to over 3 billion people around the world and has a growing customer base of over 40,000 businesses and individuals who rely on their services. By joining RippleNet, InstaRem will be able to provide a faster, cheaper and more transparent payments experience to every one of their customers.
RippleNet makes payments cheaper for customers in emerging markets
For financial institutions that want to provide a better payments service into and out of emerging markets, adopting Ripple’s leading blockchain solution for cross-border payments is the obvious answer.
RippleNet’s end-to-end communication and ability to settle transactions instantly means that members can save their customers both time and money, something incredibly important in developing countries where financial flexibility is often limited.
Patrick Griffin, Ripple’s head of business development, believes that providing faster cross-border transactions at a lower cost is especially crucial for customers in emerging markets.
“The payments problem is a global problem, but its negative impact disproportionally affects emerging markets,” said Griffin.
“Whether it’s a teacher in the U.S. sending money home to his family in Brazil, or a small business owner in India trying to move money to open up a second store in another country, it’s imperative that we connect the world’s financial institutions into a payments system that works for their customers, not against them.”
RippleNet’s continued expansion ultimately makes cross-border payments easier and less expensive, bringing the world closer to an Internet of Value, where money can move like information.
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