Ripple, the blockchain payments processor, is extending its reach into “emerging markets” and global remittance providers with the announcement of five new partnerships. On top of emerging markets like Brazil and India, the organization also announced a new partnership in Canada.According to a press release from Team Ripple, these new partnerships aim to help foster Ripple’s current reach in the global landscape. Included in these new partnerships are two international banks, Brazil’s Itaú Unibanco, and IndusInd Bank in India. Additionally, remittance providers InstaReM from Singapore, Beetech from Brazil, and Canada’s own Zip Remit are joining Ripple with the aim of facilitating payments between international markets. “Now, RippleNet can provide instant access into emerging markets such as India, Brazil and China,” said Team Ripple in its press release. “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.”
Innovative remittance providers are constantly finding new methods of letting businesses and individuals transfer funds across the globe. One such example is Zip Remit, a Toronto-based remittance company. Ahead of the announcement, Zip Remit called Ripple a “great innovation that is making business easier and cost effective for companies like ours.”“Thrilled to be part of the announcement today with @Ripple and several other leading financial firms!” said the company in a post on Twitter. “Zip Remit is embracing the speed and advantages that Ripple is bringing to our business of global payments. It is truly game-changing innovation.” https://twitter.com/Ripple/status/966251646018711552Ripple believes that blockchain payment solutions are capable of lowering transfer times and expenses. With the move to create new partnerships internationally, the organization's head of business development, Patrick Griffin, stated that this could help with the global payments problem, which “disproportionately affects emerging markets.”
Ripple is the company behind XRP, a top-five digital currency in terms of market cap. While XRP is often compared to its contemporary digital currencies, Ripple continues to state that it's straying from the approach of currencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum. In February 2018, CEO Brad Garlinghouse expressed his belief that digital currencies, including XRP, are not currencies. Instead, Garlinghouse views XRP as an asset tied to its application as a solution for issues in the real world.Garlinghouse further stated that he doesn’t think Bitcoin is an appropriate solution to the “payments problem”. Currently, the organization is trying to allow for improved global payments through partnering with major financial institutions and organizations. This move, however, represents a difference of opinion between Ripple and large portions of the digital currency community.With its numbers of partners recently surpassing 100, the organization claims that it can provide “instant access” into emerging markets. According to Griffin, this is part of a larger plan to connect countries through a payments system that, “works for their customers, not against them.”Image credit: Ripple logo
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