The CEO of Ripple Labs INC, Brad Garlinghouse, says that Ripple might take over SWIFT, according to Bloomberg.

Ripple VS Swift

Ripple Labs INC is a blockchain startup that connects banks and payment providers via RippleNet. It is a platform that provides one frictionless experience for transferring money globally. They are now gaining new customers because financial firms are seeking faster, more up-to-date technology.

Even though Swift is the most used network today, it can become outdated if they do not adapt. The Swift network is an acronym for the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication. The network is used worldwide by banks, individuals and businesses to send and receive money. Swift serves today more than 11,000 financial institutions and is in business in over 200 countries around the world. Ripple and other blockchains are fairly new compared to Swift that has more than 40 years of history and an established name.

However, Swift is not keeping up with the evolution of technology and Garlinghouse said that many of Swift’s customers are looking at blockchain solutions for their businesses.

“The technologies that banks use today that Swift developed decades ago hasn’t evolved or kept up with the market,” Garlinghouse said in an interview with Bloomberg TV on the sidelines of an event in Singapore. “Swift said not that long ago they didn’t see blockchain as a solution to correspondent banking. We’ve got well over 100 of their customers saying they disagree.”

Why Ripple and blockchain?

Ripple Labs is taking market shares from Swift and has more than 100 banks and payments providers on its RippleNet network. Some of the customers are American Express, SEB and Santander according to their website. Ripple Labs can with the new technology give a financial institution an option to Swift. Their aim is really to overtake the old payment network according to the CEO, Brad Garlinghouse.

“What we’re doing and executing on a day-by-day basis is taking over Swift,” he said.

A few months ago, Garlinghouse stated that XRP would soon be used by several major banks around the world. Some of the banks have already come on board, but there are many more to come. One of their clients, Currencies Direct, said that cryptocurrencies would be used as a transfer of value and not as a store of value. The blockchain is a game changer according to the client.

Even though Swift is currently more widely used, there is no uncertainty that blockchain and XRP is a faster way to transact money. It takes around 3-5 days for an international transfer with our traditional systems. With XRP it takes around four seconds to send a transaction according to their website.

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