Ripple has increased its presence in the banking world with another high profile partnership. As it’s done for much of 2018, the company with a vested interest in the XRP digital token aligned itself with a major player in the financial sector. As per their November press release, Ripple will worth alongside Malaysia’s CIMB Group to provide instant cross-border payment settlements. The move will not only see CIMB make its first moves in the crypto space but also give Ripple access to the hugely influential Asian market. Indeed, with CIMB being the fifth largest bank in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the partnership should help the price of XRP as we move towards the end of 2018.
Ripple to Speed Up SpeedSend
On a practical level, CIMB will use RippleNet to improve its existing remittance service, SpeedSend. Currently, SpeedSend allows the bank’s customers to send/receive funds using direct account credits and cash collection on a local level. However, with the help of Ripple, CIMB will be able to extend this service across borders to its international market. With 800 branches in 15 countries, this would provide a timely surge of activity for RippleNet and give it a footing in the Asian market. As it stands, analysts at Boston Consulting Group (BCG) estimating the value of cross-border payments to be $27 trillion. Around 40% of this activity takes place in the ASEAN region.
For CIMB, having access to cheaper, more efficient cross-border payments is a huge opportunity. In turn, it’s another chance for Ripple to establish itself as the default platform for major banks. The long-term impact of this should be a spike in the price of XRP. Although Ripple and XRP are two separate entities, the former’s technology is built on top of the latter. What’s more, Ripple is the majority owner of XRP. Thanks to this dynamic, the fortunes of XRP are inextricably linked to Ripple’s.
XRP Buoyed by Ripple’s Rising Fortunes
After losing ground to Steller Lumens (XLM) in September, XRP has rallied in recent weeks. From a low of $0.28/£0.21 per coin in September, the digital token cleared the $0.40/£0.31 in mid-November. The latest rally comes as Ripple announced a partnership with international currency exchange MoneyNetInt. Between that and tie-ups with PNC Bank, MoneyGram and the Royal Bank of Canada, Ripple has established itself as the go-to blockchain-based platform for major corporations. With the latest partnership giving the company a presence in a new market, further price spikes could be on the horizon for those that buy XRP online.
* Information in this article should not be taken as investment advice.
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