• The alliance will enable CIMB Group to use RippleNet to facilitate cross-border payments
• CIMB’s RippleNet integration makes the bank one of the first financial institution in the ASEAN to adopt blockchain technology
• The team says RippleNet will boost CIMB’s existing remittance solution, SpeedSend and offer clients faster and cost-efficient inbound and outbound remittances.

Ripple, the California based fintech and blockchain technology startup behind the XRP altcoin, has inked a strategic partnership with CIMB Group,  the fifth largest lender in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), to enable the bank integrate RippleNet into its operations and use it for superfast cross-border payments, reported  Finance Magnates on November 15, 2018.

Leading player in remittances

Per sources close to the development, CIMB Group, a leading financial institution in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), has joined RippleNet, to enable it to facilitate instant cross-border payments.

With the new partnership, RippleNet will be integrated into CIMB’s SpeedSend, a proprietary payments solution that makes it possible for clients of the bank to send and receive money and get credited almost instantly.

If all goes as planned, RippleNet’s blockchain solution will further enhance SpeedSend and allow clients of the bank to have access to cross-border payments for both inbound transactions into ASEAN as well as outbound remittances to Australia, USA, UK and Hong Kong.

Generally speaking, traditional finance institutions are still unwilling or unable to process superfast and cost-efficient international payment and these transactions often take several days to get to its destination.

However, forward-thinking lenders across the globe are adopting distributed ledger technology to overcome this challenge.

Commenting on the new partnership with Ripple, the CEO of CIMB Group, Tengku Dato’ Sri Zafrul Aziz noted that the firm’s adoption of RippleNet is an innovative move aimed at enhancing its digital banking system and “provide speedy and cost-efficient remittance solutions to customers across ASEAN.”

Ripples

Despite the controversies  and challenges that the Ripple project has passed through since its launch by Ripple Labs in 2012, it has continued to wax stronger, forming new alliances  and reaching new milestones.

At the time of writing, Ripple’s native altcoin XRP is the second largest cryptocurrency in the world, with a market cap of $18 billion, surpassing Ethereum’s ether (ETH) by a whopping $6 million, as seen on CoinMarketCap.

Whether the lead over Ethereum will remain remains to be seen.