Banks and remittance providers expand connections into India and Brazil

February 21, 2018 – Ripple, the enterprise blockchain solution for global payments, has seen interest in its network continue to accelerate around the world. After recently surpassing more than 100 members, additional international financial institutions have joined RippleNet. Two banks - Itaú Unibanco (Brazil) & IndusInd (India) - and three fast-growing remittance providers - InstaReM (Singapore), Beetech (Brazil) and Zip Remit (Canada) are joining RippleNet to facilitate payments both into and out of emerging, global markets.

Now, RippleNet can provide instant access into emerging markets such as India, Brazil and China (through a recent announcement with Lianlian). Emerging markets are home to 85 percent of the global population and nearly 90 percent of people under 30 reside within those markets. Given the demographics, these countries are some of the world’s largest remittance markets. In 2017 alone:

• India, where IndusInd is located, saw a total $65 billion move into the country.
• China, where both Zip Remit and Beetech have interest in connecting into, saw $61 billion move into the country.
• Brazil, where both Itaú Unibanco and Beetech are located, saw over $600 million settle into banks and money transfer services from the United States.

When financial institutions adopt blockchain technology for payments, it lowers both costs and transfer times for their customers, which is crucial in developing countries where financial flexibility is limited. By joining RippleNet, financial institutions are able to communicate information about a payment between each other and settle payments immediately.

InstaReM, which processes over 500,000 transactions per year, is focused on connecting businesses and individuals from Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Singapore, and India to over 60 countries worldwide - many of those are developing countries in Southeast Asia.

“We are pleased to partner with Ripple,” said Prajit Nanu, co-founder and CEO of InstaReM. “Now, RippleNet members will be able to process a large number of payouts in Southeast Asian countries through InstaReM’s secure rails.”

Patrick Griffin, head of business development at Ripple, believes that blockchain solutions can provide a much more significant impact to the customers of financial institutions 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.”

About Ripple

Ripple provides one frictionless experience to send money globally using the power of blockchain. By joining Ripple’s growing, global network, financial institutions can process their customers’ payments anywhere in the world instantly, reliably and cost-effectively. Banks and payment providers can use the digital asset XRP to further reduce their costs and access new markets. With offices in San Francisco, New York, London, Luxembourg, Mumbai, Singapore and Sydney, Ripple has more than 100 customers around the world.