In today’s increasingly globalized world — where international supply chains as well as the number of overseas workers are growing — it’s imperative to have fast, transparent cross-border payments.

To meet this increasing demand for real-time payment services, Axis Bank (based in India), Standard Chartered (Singapore), and RAKBANK (United Arab Emirates) will now use RippleNet to send live, fast, frictionless cross-border payments.

These three major banks use Ripple’s leading enterprise-blockchain solution to power real-time, on-demand corporate payments from Standard Chartered to Axis Bank, and retail remittance payments from RAKBANK to Axis Bank beneficiaries. Now, live payments are completed in just minutes — with the certainty of settlement.

Live corporate payment services on RippleNet to serve customers better

For Standard Chartered and Axis Bank, the Ripple-powered corporate payment service will allow each bank to offer their business customers an enhanced payments experience, ultimately enabling their end-customers to manage their cash flow, costs, and float better.

By our estimates, there are between 200-300 large, international corporates with regional treasury hubs in Singapore. These corporates span industries including fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) and retail.

Often these corporates manufacture their products in India before shipping them to Singapore for worldwide distribution. In fact, the Singapore-India trade corridor is worth $15 billion.

Ripple-enabled cross-border payments will help unlock this corridor on both sides for Standard Chartered and Axis Bank.

Live retail payment service in the world’s biggest remittance market

It’s also never been more important for retail remittances to be instant, efficient, and secure between the UAE and India. Retail remittances between the two countries are significant and growing, thanks to the large Indian workforce in the UAE.

These workers send a significant proportion of their salaries home every year — nearly $12.6 billion annually — which RAKBANK wants to support with faster, easier, and more transparent payments.

Individual retail remittance payments are usually lower in value, but higher in volume. Processing these over RippleNet will allow RAKBANK to offer their retail customers an easier, more affordable experience, helping them to increase their market share in this crowded and competitive space.

What leaders at Ripple and major banks have to say about using RippleNet

Marcus Treacher, Ripple’s global head of strategic accounts said: “Standard Chartered, Axis Bank, and RAKBANK recognize the evolving demands of their customers and are leaning in to better serve their needs today and into tomorrow as expectations for speed and transparency will only rise. This commercial service is a significant step toward helping corporates and migrant workers around the world unlock trillions of dollars in trapped working capital, accelerate global commerce, and send vital funds home as quickly as possible.”

Gautam Jain, global head of digitisation and client access, transaction Banking at Standard Chartered said: “The successful launch of our commercial cross-border payment service marks a significant milestone in the financial industry’s progress in applying distributed ledger technology for corporates. We are incredibly proud to be leading the way in this area. This affirms our commitment to digitisation and innovation as we continuously look at new way

Axis Bank President of Transaction Banking Himadri Chatterjee said: “While there have been significant innovations in domestic payments, cross-border remittance has seen limited developments. Using APIs and distributed ledger technology, there is an opportunity to radically change the way international payments are handled. We are excited with the potential the technology has to bring innovative services to the market and help us enhance value to our customers.”

Peter England, RAKBANK CEO, said: “We at RAKBANK believe in leveraging new technologies that constantly enhance our customer experience and by using Ripple’s Blockchain solution to power international payments, our customers can now send money home easily and in real time. Joining the Ripple network is in line with not only our Blockchain strategy, but it also allows us to expand our remittance footprint. This will help us scale our business and provide our customers with a first-class digital payments experience.”

Contact us to learn more about joining RippleNet.