IndusInd Bank partners with cryptocurrency and payment player Ripple for remittances

IndusInd Bank, on Tuesday, announced that it has partnered with enterprise Blockchain solution Ripple to facilitate cross-border payments.

By partnering with Ripple’s global payments network and real-time gross settlement system, RippleNet, IndusInd Bank is looking to build on its existing footprint in the payments business through this alliance.

According to the platform, RippleNet is a decentralised global network of banks and payment providers using Ripple’s distributed financial technology.

The bank states that Blockchain technologies for payments lower both costs and transfer times for their customers. Further, by joining RippleNet, financial institutions are able to communicate information about a payment between each other, and settle payments immediately.

Explaining why they decided to partner with Ripple, Ramesh Ganesan, Senior Executive Vice President at IndusInd Bank, said,

“We plan to leverage the Ripple platform to provide an enhanced experience to our clients by delivering instant settlements and atomic confirmations on the back of a highly secure infrastructure. Building a digital platform that enhances client experience is a core part of our strategy and we are confident that our partnership with Ripple is another step in that direction. This will deliver more value to remitters, recipients and our institutional partners across the world.”

Besides, Patrick Griffin, Head of Business Development at Ripple, believes that Blockchain solutions can provide a much more significant impact to the customers of financial institutions in emerging markets.

He said,

The payments problem is a global problem, but its negative impact disproportionally affects emerging market. Whether it’s an engineer in the US sending money to his family in India, or a small business owner in Brazil trying to move money to their suppliers in another country, it’s imperative that we connect the world’s financial institutions into a payments system that works for their customers, not against them.

Remittances is a huge business in India. According to a recent report issued by the World Bank, India was expected to top the remittance global chart, receiving close to $65 billion in remittances in 2017.

In November last year, the news came out that financial services company American Express and Santander Bank, have partnered with financial technology firm Ripple to speed up cross-border payments.

Last year, it was reported that Ripple's global payments network has been growing with more than 90 customers and more than 75 banks.