Ripple, a San Francisco based blockchain financial technology firm continues to gain support from major financial institutions on its blockchain network. Ripple and it’s associated token, XRP, are available on the Evolution IRA platform to include in your portfolio.
Newest supporters include PNC, the 9th largest bank in the United States and The National Commercial Bank, Saudi Arabia’s first established bank.
Major Bank Supports a Major Turning Point
PNC Bank is fourth largest bank with the most ATMs and the fifth largest bank by number of branches in the United States. The bank has both retail and institutional divisions, serving over 8 million customers across 19 states. (Source)
This type of major financial institutional support for blockchain networks is further evidence of adoption of the technology and new asset class. In their press statement, Ripple states:
Ripple’s technology will have an immediate impact on each of those groups, enabling PNC’s commercial clients to receive payments from overseas banks in real time.
Ripple Press Release announcing addition of PNC (Source)
Including PNC on the RippleNet allows PNC customers to receive cross-border payments in real time. For example, a UK buyer can send a payment instantly to a commercial client on the Eastern Seaboard of the US. This allows the transaction to happen instantly, further allowing both parties to better manage their capital.
While PNC is the largest US bank addition to RippleNet, PNC does not currently have plans to integrate XRP into their platform.
Saudi Bank Expands Ripple into Asia
The National Commercial Bank, Saudi Arabia’s first established bank, has joined RippleNet as well. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) has a massive migrant worker population, making a cross-border payment solution incredibly attractive. With over 10 million of these migrant workers, Ripple’s technology for instant international payments makes a blockchain network a great fit for this pressing need. The National Commercial Bank currently has more than 5.4 million customers worldwide.
Ripple has stated that the bank will begin by connecting financial institutions in North America and Asia, starting in Singapore.
Having a blockchain network in the KSA represents a big step forward in incorporating the new technology into the financial world. Even with the slowdown in many Arab economies, 308 million dollars were sent into the KSA, and 37 billion dollars in remittances were sent from the country in 2016, according to the World Bank.
More Thank 100 Financial Institutions Have Joined RippleNet
As of today’s writing, more than 100 financial institutions have joined the RippleNet blockchain network. The banks and financial institutions span the globe and include the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority, the UAE Exchange, American Express, The Japan Bank Consortium, TransferGo and more.
The RippleNet has a mix of banks, exchanges and money remittence services who have signed on to the blockchain technology. In a recent press release, they state:
RippleNet allows for members to easily connect with other member-enabled banks to widen their footprint in other countries, as well as quickly send commercial payments.
Press Release: RippleNet Grows to More Than 100 Financial Institutions (Source)
American Express hopes to use RippleNet to further enable faster payments between the US and UK. the organizations believe that this new transaction channel will help to “solve an immediate need for frictionless corporate global payments in the U.K. market.”
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