Ripple Powers Instant Money Transfers From Japan to Thailand

Various banks around the world are currently experimenting with Ripple technology. Their goal is to make cross-border money transfers both quicker and cheaper for all parties involved. A new partnership between SBI Remit, Siam Commercial Bank, and Ripple provides exactly that service. Sending money from Japan to Thailand has become faster, easier, and more convenient. This is another major development that will help put Ripple on the global map.

The remittance corridor between Japan and Thailand has been growing rather quickly. According to recent statistics, this market represents an annual volume of US$250m. It is a rather substantial amount, which is still subject to 5-7% in fees. Moreover, such a money transfer can take up to two business days to complete. In this day and age of modern technologies, that is absolutely unacceptable. Coming up with a solution is direly needed, that much is evident.

Ripple Powers Remittance From Japan to Thailand

Now that Ripple powers the first instant remittance between Japan and Thailand, things are bound to get interesting. SBI Remit and Siam Commercial Bank agreed to conduct a trial using Ripple’s technology. It is commercially available as of yesterday, and funds transfers take seconds to complete. SBI Remit users can send a transfer in JPY to SCB savings accounts in Thailand. It is a major development for this particular remittance corridor, to say the least.

It was only a matter of time until Asian banks effectively integrated Ripple’s technology. Dozens of banks in the region have been experimenting with this concept for some time now. Siam Commercial Bank is pleased to be the first Asian bank to use this technology for real-time payments. It is unclear if the XRP asset is used to power these transfers. Then again, providing real-time transfers without XRP would be very challenging.

According to the SBI Remit representative director, Ripple is “impressive”. That is a powerful validation of the technology this company has been working on for many years now. The current plan is to make this service accessible to other SCB’s other regions as well. This means Ripple-powered instant payments may come to Europe, North America, and the Asia Pacific region. This news will please a lot of Ripple’s investors, that much is evident.

Header image courtesy of Shutterstock