Santander becomes first U.K. bank to use Ripple for real-time cross-border payments. Santander, the 16th largest bank in the world with $1.74 trillion assets under management, is planning to launch its Ripple-powered payments app One Pay FX in Mexico this year.

As of today, Santander employees are able to transfer between £10 and £10,000 through there mobile application. The app is currently available on Apple’s iPhone® and connects to Apple Pay®, where users can confirm payments securely using Touch ID®. Payments can be made from British pounds to euros in 21 countries and to dollars in the U.S.

Traditional borderless payments can take up to five days to process. One Pay FX says its users can expect their payments to arrive on the same day while benefiting from competitive rates.

The app also provides a seamless digital experience with several details about each transaction including bank fees, exchange rates, estimated delivery time and a notification that the money has been received.

Santander Global Platform (SGP) supports the digital transformation across the Group and aims to become the best open financial services platform.

Accelerating the digital transformation through SGP: Our technology strategy is aligned with our two-pronged approach of digitalising our core banks and global businesses and building Santander Global Platform, focusing on better serving our customers needs. Innovation and technological development are strategic pillars of the Group. Our objective is to respond to the new challenges that emanate from digital transformation, focusing on operational excellence and customer experience.

In light of these findings, we have launched from Group a series of initiatives. For example:

•Simplification is now included in the objectives for management roles.

•We have simplified the Group’s structure into three regions: Europe, South America, North America.

•We have launched the new Santander.com website to provide a simplified and streamlined platform for our stakeholders.

•We have developed a new digital workplace platform to enhance and promote communications, collaboration and best practice sharing across the Group. It will be launched during 2020.

•We simplified our HR platform for our employees to make it easier to access relevant information.

•A products and services global review is being conducted, focusing in particular on speed of service.

•A systems review is being conducted, and improvements made to foster digitalization, making it easier for customers to deal with us and for teams to work together.

•Using agile methodologies, we are changing processes to reduce the time to market, time to make decisions and boost collaboration.