Financial giants Western Union and GraceKennedy Money Services (GKMS) are partnering to launch an innovative online remittance platform WU.com. The platform is scheduled to be lunched at the end of April this year. The development is coming after Western Union (WU) confirmed it is testing Ripple’s (XRP) Blockchain-based settlement system, Xrapid and XRP. The Ripple-Western Union Collaboration, is once in a lifetime partnership that Ripple and WU wont forget.

Feeding newsmen in a press conference on Tuesday, at the GraceKennedy’s headquarter in Jamaica, Western Union’s President and CEO Hikmet Ersek made known that the idea is the first of its kind in the Caribbean and Latin America. It appears the innovation is going to be very fast, and should be distinct when compared to the ones obtained in our society today.

In the same vein, GraceKennedy’s Group CEO, Don Wehby who revealed how they are targeting a roadmap that would make them realize 15 percent revenue from the latest development, said the two company have a special way of executing the digital idea.

The CEO of GKMS, Michelle Allen confirmed the development to Loop News saying, “WU.com will be hitting a new customer base; customers who are account-based. We don’t expect to cannibalize our existing customers but will reach out to new customers that use the banks.”The transaction, according to Allen the transaction that would be done on the platform “will be a convenient 24/7 online service. You can now send money from anywhere in Jamaica. It has been in development for over two years and heralds our move to digital money. We want people to understand that gone are the days of walking around with cash. We want people to use their phone and GK M Pay products. You can send remittances on your phone and we want you to use your debit and credit cards online to send money. You can now send money into someone’s bank account using Wu. com.”

GKMS is a big fish that has over 140 locations Island-wide and connects 200 countries across the globe, and has enough customers to make things work in case any one is doubting the collaboration.

Note that it is not clear if WU.com will be centered on the blockchain tool which Western Union says it is testing since February, I mean xRapid and xCurrent. It is still under speculations if the idea will involve any of Ripple’s tool, however, since Western Union acquired 25 Percent Stake in GraceKennedy’s Remittance, Cambio and Bill Payments Businesses in the Caribbean, the potential that xRapid is going to be used for this platform is high.

Ripple over the years has been doing fantastic in different parts of the world. The cryptocurrency has just started infiltrating the nooks and crannies of China with a favor from Lian-Lian that just tested the platform to confirm its potential. Ripple has since said there is no going back on coasting the whole of China.

While some say ripple won’t get the opportunity of having a presence in China owing to the country’s stiff regulations on cryptocurrency-related matter. Ripple is serious about the penetration. Going by the firm’s head of government and regulatory relations for Asia Pacific, Sagar Sarbh, the company is in a serious discussion with financial service providers, regulators, banks, and calling for explanations on the Chinese financial regulations especially that which has to do with cryptocurrency.

“This year you will see more announcements coming in on China, in terms of educating and differentiating us from some of the other cryptocurrencies that are out there. As we speak, our team is strategizing about entering the market, but it’s still very early days.”

“In our discussions with China’s regulatory bodies so far, this is something that hasn’t come up. We’re essentially a software company, licensing software to banks and enterprises who want to move money cross-border. If a Chinese bank wants to use our solution and the regulator sees no risk with the solution, I don’t see why the government, even in a so-called hostile environment, would have any issue with that. But this is early days in what you call the trade war and hostile environment.”

In another dimension, Ripple team says it is aiming at collaborating with over half of world’s bank in the next 5 years. To show that it means business, Ripple has partnered with Cuallix, MoneyGram, IDT Corporation, Mercury FX and Western Union.

InstaRem, which processes more than 500,000 transactions yearly, is a leading digital remittance platform in Southeast Asia. The firm has also aired that it is using one of Ripple tools for the cross-border transaction.

As part of its efforts, Ripple is poised to saving Saudi Arabia of close to $200-$400 million it loses to cross-border transaction yearly. Ripple has fast and reliable tools that no country would resist, the reason it is doing great in every area it touches

Unlike some altcoins and some ICOs, many a number of development keeps on coming from Ripple’s partnership, due to its tools which have unmatched value in the financial sector today. There is more to tell about Ripple in the future when the cryptocoin becomes the giant that we all desire.