The diversifying and growing XRP’s ecosystem keep all eyes on the digital currency and the parent software company that created the open source digital token, Ripple Inc., Labs.

As we jump to Q2, Ripple and XRP token are fortifying their ecosystem with lots of financial institutions that have the potential of using XRP for cross-border remittance, just the way Coinbase singled out XRP for cross-border remittance.

Ending Q1 with awesome partnerships, Ripple got new additions worth mentioning, and these have been done below:

Ripple Partners with Ria

At the just concluded Euronet conference, Michael J. Brown, President and CEO announced a surprising addition to the Ripple ecosystem.

The collaboration, which is between Ria Financial Services and Ripple, has the possibility of increasing the reach of Ripple by giving the blockchain firm wide access to Ria’s footprint, while giving Ria’s users the opportunity to link more than 200 Ripple’s partners worldwide.

With over $40 billion in money transfer yearly, Ria has presence in more than 155 countries, over 377,000 locations across the globe.

As reflected in a statement by @ANT159694954 on Twitter, who referenced Brown as saying:

We signed an agreement with Ripple that gives a Ripple access to Ria's global physical and digital footprint, also allowing Ria's customers to connect and transact with Ripple's network which includes more than 200 financial institutions worldwidehttps://t.co/xX1LT5czHC — ANT1 (@ANT159694954) May 1, 2019

SABB Launches New Ripple Based Cross-Border Instant Payments

During the Financial Sector Conference held in Riyadh on 24th and 25th April, Saudi British Bank (SABB) announced it has launched an across-border remittance services using Ripple’s latest technology renowned for its seamless characteristics.

The payment gateway, which depends solely on Ripple’s blockchain technology, reflects SABB’s preparedness towards a customer-centric digital transformation.

First, SABB joined the Ripple network in December 2018 under the supervision of the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (SAMA). This resulted in the successful introduction of the Ripple technology with the Indian Rupee currency for cross-border remittance.

While the newly activated gateway is a positive start for SABB and Ripple, more additional currencies and countries are expected in the future.

eToroX Makes XRP Base Currency

XRP is among the few digital assets gaining traction. The recently unveiled eToroX, a crypto exchange by eToro, has added 7 new crypto pairs, giving XRP 3 distinct ones.

Of the 7 pairs, which includes BCH-BTC, LTC-BCH, BCH-ETH, XRP-ETH, LTC-ETH, BCH-XRP, LTC-XRP, RIple’s XRP took three, inferring that Ripple’s XRP has been taken as a base currency on the platform.

Last month, the CEO of eToro visited Ripple’s headquarters purposely to learn more about xRapid, indicating that the renowned exchange might be planning to use the XRP-centric tool.

Mbanq Now Using Ripplenet

Mbanq, a Banking-as-a-Service FinTechs, has indicated it is now using Ripplenet, a blockchain based payment system.

Mbanq came into existence about 17 years ago, and it was a technology provider before moving into Software-as-a-Service in 2017 and then evolved into world’s leading Banking-as-a-Service provider.

Due to Mbanq’s prominence, it has secured affiliation with banks in the United States and has branches in different countries across all continents.

The benefit of integrating Ripplenet to its payment solution is expected to be mutual, in which both companies will benefit tremendously due to their pedigrees.

As revealed by XRPArcade, Mbanq is part of the firms working on IBM World-Wire, however, the introduction of RIpplenet to its suites of tools is no doubt a blessing to the platform.

EQIBank Incorporate with Ripple

While the number of financial institutions using Ripple is on the increase, EQBank, the Global Digital Banking for Business, has also indicated it is using the blockchain technology to enhance online payment services globally.

EQIBank, located in Roseau, Dominica, is an authorised financial institution for centralised and decentralised currencies. It provides services such as lending, custody, banking, exchange, settlement and insured wallets.