Ripple has announced a partnership with Thai financial service provider DeeMoney. The deal is geared towards bolstering Ripple’s presence across Asia.
Thai-based Fintech Firm Leveraging Blockchain for Remittance
According to a press release published on Wednesday (March 18, 2020), blockchain-based remittance powerhouse Ripple has signed a partnership deal with DeeMoney.
The Thailand-based financial technology agency, DeeMoney, is the first non-banking institution in the country to utilize Ripple’s blockchain network.
Also, the fintech company specializes in facilitating digital cross-border remittance payments. DeeMoney will use Ripple’s enterprise blockchain solution to optimizes its current remittance system, per details of the deal.
Commenting on the partnership agreement, CEO of DeeMoney, Aswin Phlaphongphanich said :
“Ripple is currently at the forefront of technology and compliance regulations. Its technology provides a single, automated system that speaks the same way to all its 300 partners worldwide, making it simple for our tech teams to integrate into our process. We are excited to partner with Ripple as, together, we aim to democratize finance in Thailand by bringing a new level of efficiency and accessibility for cross-border transactions to and from the nation.”
Phlaphongphanich further remarked that Ripple’s blockchain-powered remittance solution will bolster the fintech firm’s efforts to reduce the rate of manual interference in the money transfer process. The CEO believes this will allow DeeMoney to significantly cut the cost of operations and provide a more efficient service for its customers.
According to the press release, the Thailand-based fintech company will utilize Ripple’s blockchain remittance solution in two phases. The first phase comprises of DeeMoney using RippleNet to process incoming remittance transfers into the country.
Established payment corridors from countries across South East Asia such as South Korea and Singapore, as well as nations in the Middle East and the Gulf regions, will be prioritized. In the second phase, the fintech firm will leverage Ripple’s remittance solution to process outgoing transfer from Thailand to other countries.
Ripple Bolsters Foothold in Asian Remittance Market
The newly reached partnership deal with DeeMoney is reportedly a strategic move by Ripple to solidify its presence in the growing Asian-Pacific (APAC) remittance market. Regarding Thailand specifically, Senior Vice President of Customer Success at Ripple, Marcus Treacher said that the country has expressed its intentions to develop into a Smart Nation capable of utilizing digital payment corridors. Treacher further remarked:
“The digital banking revolution is taking Thailand by storm, and DeeMoney is a key player in this. By being the first non-bank institution in Thailand to use RippleNet, it redraws the boundaries and rules of engagement by providing efficient international transfers at low fees and competitive rates.”
Earlier in January 2020, Ripple released a report tagged ‘The Growing Remittance Market in Asia-Pacific:2020 Global Payment Opportunities’ indicating the potential of the APAC remittance market to grow. According to the report, the World Bank reported an estimated 2 billion remittance transactions within countries in the APAC region each year. Also, the report recorded a 12% growth in remittance flows in 2018.
Furthermore, remittance flows to countries such as Thailand and the Phillippines were expected to reach $550 billion in 2019, after hitting a record high of $529 billion in 2018, per the report. As the APAC market presented itself as ready for digitalization, Ripple seized the opportunity to leverage its blockchain-based remittance solution to industry stakeholders across the region by offering a low-cost efficient system to process payments.
Also, the blockchain heavyweight has appointed financial payment and banking veteran Kevin Lee to spearhead its expansion efforts in the APAC region. Lee boasts a wealth of experience with previous senior positions held at multinationals such as Mastercard and Visa.
In other Ripple related news, the blockchain giant signed a partnership with European remittance firm Azimo back in February 2020 as reported by Blockonomi. According to the agreement, Azimo would utilize Ripple’s On-Demand Liquidity (ODL) solution to boost its remittance flows into the Philippines.
Also, Ripple recently partnered with Thailand-based Siam Commercial bank as well as UAE Exchange and Unimoni to establish cross-border payment corridors on the respective platforms to process remittance payments into Thailand using the RippleNet blockchain network and its native crypto XRP.