It has not been a great start to the year for Ripple. The once shining star of the crypto world has lost over 60% of its value crashing from an all-time high of $3.90 on Jan 4 to $1.44 today. The San Francisco company is desperate for some good news and these new partners could well provide it.
It has been reported that the two partners are leading foreign exchange provider MercuryFX and publically traded telecommunications company IDT Corporation. Both firms are seeking to enhance customer experiences by providing low cost, real time transparent global payments. Using banks and forex providers for micropayments is currently cost prohibitive. Enter xRapid which aims to expedite international currency transfers by using Ripple’s XRP token as the intermediary.
Optimistic outlook
Both partners are optimistic about the future of remittances using cryptocurrency. The demand for cheaper and instant payments will grow as the market expands. Alfredo O’Hagan, Senior VP of IDT’s consumer payments business told media;
“Our BOSS Revolution international money transfer business routinely utilizes digital assets to generate liquidity in fiat currencies for our disbursement agents as part of our transaction settlement process. We’re excited to pilot Ripple’s xRapid solution for on-demand liquidity. We expect that xRapid will enable us to settle more transactions in real-time and at a lower cost.”
While MercuryFX CEO and founder Alastair Constance added;
“Ripple, XRP and fiat currency fit hand in glove. What we’re doing together is realizing one of the best use cases for frictionless transactions, which is international settlement. xRapid allows us to drive down the cost of currency exchange and global settlement, making our customers more competitive and saving them tens of millions of dollars each year. Digital assets promise fast transaction speeds but XRP is far faster than all of them, including bitcoin. Cutting settlement times from hours and days to just three seconds or less will remove billions of dollars in unnecessary intermediary fees,”
Rapid transfers
Ripple’s xRapid system is critical for the company, which has long been making the case that its digital currency, XRP, can provide useful liquidity in the global money system, and is not simply the object of speculation. Financial institutions can eliminate the need for costly arbitrators or pre-funded Nostro accounts in destination currencies.
Referring to the company’s long-term vision for moving money the same way information moves today Brad Garlinghouse, CEO of Ripple, said;
“It’s no secret that XRP is faster and more efficient than bitcoin or any other digital asset. It settles in three seconds and at fractions of a penny. Payment providers like IDT Corporation and MercuryFX are early movers because they understand what XRP can do for their business and customer experience. We’re excited to have them at the forefront of the Internet of Value.”
Ripple currently sits third in the market capacity charts with $55.7 billion at the time of writing.
