Currencies Direct has announced a successful completion of an an international payment over Ripple’s xRapid platform using XRP tokens.
Currencies Direct is a UK-based currency exchange and money transfer provider offering services to individual, businesses, and online sellers. They pride themselves on local expertise — with 21 offices around the world they are able to provide expert local help on currency markets, local regulations, and compliance. They have specialized expertise for transferring to Spain, France, the USA, the UK, Portugal, and South Africa.
This is one of the first successful trials of a digital asset by a mainstream financial services organisation. It marks a departure from the speculative trading of cryptocurrencies that has dominated the marketplace thus far and a shift towards the intended purpose of digital assets – as a means of value transfer.
The trial saw Currencies Direct conduct a number of transfers between pre-screened organisations in seconds, compared to the 3 to 5 day period that transfers currently take. The trial has served as a technological proof of concept for XRP as a means of value transfer, achieving superior speed of payment and end-to-end transparency, compared to traditional means of payment.
Brian Harris, Chief Product Officer at Currencies Direct, said of the move “our trial with XRP was a resounding success. We’re currently assessing our next steps, but the evidence we’ve gathered indicates that the use of XRP is a game changer, making payments near-immediate and significantly improving service to our customers.”
“Our goal is to offer the best possible service. We believe that utilising cryptocurrencies in this way – as a transfer of value, rather than as a store of value – is the next logical step for our industry. It is, after all, the intended purpose of cryptocurrencies and we’re proud to be leveraging new technology to deliver the most convenient and seamless experience for our customers.”
For those unfamiliar with xRapid, the technology works as follows:
Financial institution connects directly to digital asset exchanges in both the originating and destination corridors. The originating currency is exchanged into XRP which provides the necessary liquidity to power the final payment, and then in seconds that XRP is exchanged into the destination currency in the second digital asset exchange. Once this transaction takes place, the funds are sent out on the local rails of the destination country for payout. The transaction is tracked end-to-end, and the result is a cross-border payment that is cheaper and faster than ever before.
Asheesh Birla, Senior Vice President of Product at Ripple, said: “The results speak for themselves – xRapid leverages XRP to transform the way money moves by significantly lowering the cost and time it takes to make a cross-border payment. xRapid offers an enhanced payments experience, while also allowing payment providers to gain a competitive advantage in the market.”
“This represents a revolutionary step for the industry and clearly shows how FinTech companies like Currencies Direct are helping to revolutionise the financial services sector,” explains Harris. “We’re proud to be early adopters of this technology.”
Ripple Labs obviously keeps delivering on their promises and XRP adoption rate is heading in the right direction and at a nice pace.One thing to keep in mind is that adoption isn’t like switching on a light, it’s a process, similar to a car acceleration, needs time to pick up the pace.
Adoption on a huge scale will take years.
But what you should be looking at isn’t the raw numbers, but the rate of growth. That’s Ripple’s ability to get banks to hit the gas, and will predict the ultimate XRP value down the road.
How are regular people making returns of as much as 70% in a year with no risk? By properly setting up a FREE Pionex grid bot - click the button to learn more.
Crypto arbitrage still works like a charm, if you do it right! Check out Alphador, leading crypto arbitrage bot to learn the best way of doing it.
Rene Peters is editor-in-chief of CaptainAltcoin and is responsible for editorial planning and business development. After his training as an accountant, he studied diplomacy and economics and held various positions in one of the management consultancies and in couple of digital marketing agencies. He is particularly interested in the long-term implications of blockchain technology for politics, society and the economy.
