Payment networking company Ripple Labs recently surprised the masses by opening a new subsidiary in Sydney, Australia.
According to its official press release, the San Francisco-based company was already receiving multiple requests from people beyond the Red Sea for its real-time settlement protocol Ripple. They therefore decided to do so by launching the aforementioned subsidiary, a step that would also help connecting Ripple Labs users in the US and Europe to make cross border payments to their counterparts in Asia Pacific region, and vice-versa.
For a moment, one could also see the huge strategical advantage Ripple Labs would have upon the elaboration of their services in this new territory. There is a huge remittence market breathing inside the Asia Pacific region, thanks to the inclusion of densely populated countries like India and China.
Global management consulting firm McKinsey has already accounted intra-Europe trade flows to become largest by the year 2016, after recording a $3 trillion worth outcome in 2012. In another study in 2013, McKinsey also reported Asia Pacific cross border payment value to have crossed $200 billion. For Ripple Labs, this is indeed one region that deserves to be soaked in. The company is moving towards where the business is.
Ripple Labs CEO and co-founder Chris Larsen further displayed his overwhelmingness with the company’s expansion to new regions, saying that it is an “area that has been aggressively pursuing faster payment technologies for both domestic and cross-border payments.” He further showed confidence in their newly appointed Managing Director Dilip Rao to drive Ripple Labs to its desired destinations in coming year.
“I am thrilled to bring Ripple Labs to Sydney, where we can more effectively serve eager markets in India, Singapore, the Middle East and across APAC,” said Rao, an MBA from Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. “Banks and enterprises can leverage Ripple to more efficiently service the exploding trade and remittance flows in this region.”