Recently, currency exchange and remittance network Ripple announced its collaboration with London-based digital money transfer service Azimo geared towards improving settlements to the Philippines.

The partnership opened the way for Azimo to launch its first service using Ripple’s On-Demand Liquidity solution (ODL) to send faster and cheaper cross-border payments to the Philippines, with plans to expand to more markets in 2020.

Thrilled to announce that we have partnered with @Azimo to deliver faster, cheaper payments through #ODL. https://t.co/iC5dpOlzbh — Ripple (@Ripple) February 26, 2020

Reliable and easy payments to the Philippines and worldwide

The On-Demand Liquidity solution uses the digital asset XRP to facilitate quicker and more reliable payments to and from the Philippines, and soon, globally.

This partnership looks promising as the Philippines is one of the top remittance destinations globally. Additionally, Azimo’s money transfer platform is used by more than a million customers, who can send money from 25 countries to more than 200 countries and territories worldwide.

Speaking about the partnership, Richard Ambrose, CEO of Azimo, noted: “We’ve been interested for a long time in the potential of digital assets like XRP to make cross-border payments better for customers.”

Marcus Treacher, SVP of Customer Success at Ripple, said: “It’s of the utmost importance to partner with companies who share the same vision and passion for changing the way that money moves around the world today.”

“Azimo is challenging the status quo by leveraging RippleNet with ODL to provide fast, low-cost, reliable and easy payments for its customers worldwide,” he added.

Ripple’s ODL solution attracting business

Reportedly, ODL has the potential to reduce liquidity costs by up to 60% compared to traditional banking solutions.

Azimo claims the Ripple ODL solution will significantly reduce the cost and delivery time for cross-border transfers; thus, benefiting customers.

The Krakow-based company also revealed that they believe that, as more banks and financial institutions use ODL, it will replace the current methods of foreign exchange trading and reduce settlement time to almost zero.

In an interview with Fortune, Ambrose said: “Ripple and XRP are a means to lower costs when arranging money transfers to countries like the Philippines and Nigeria. It’s a fast and efficient bridge between remittance markets.”

2/2 Ambrose added that, for his company, Ripple and XRP are a means to lower costs when arranging money transfers to countries like the Philippines and Nigeria. Ambrose described the process as a “fast and efficient bridge between remittance markets.” — ༜༝????????????????????????????????????????⚡ (@xrp_stuart) February 26, 2020

Ripple’s foray into the South Korean market

For many years, the remittance market in Korea was totally controlled by large financial institutions. Therefore, it led to high foreign transfer fees and costly delays. But in 2017, the rules changed, allowing non-bank companies to offer remittance services.

Coinone Transfer partnered with RippleNet to seize this opportunity in creating its retail remittance product, Cross. The product is South Korea’s first blockchain-powered remittance mobile app. It reportedly offers fast lower-cost payments to nearby markets like Thailand and Sri Lanka.

Since launching in 2018, Coinone Transfer has experienced a 50% month-over-month growth rate in payment volume.

But there is still considerable need for improved cross-border payment services in and out of the country. This has led to the recent addition of Sentbe, Hanpass, and WireBarley in Korea.

Emi Yoshikawa, Ripple’s Senior Director of Global Operations, said: “Since the Korean government started licensing payment providers for remittance in 2017, we’ve witnessed how Korean payment providers dramatically improved payments experience for their customers, and we’re pleased to be part of their on-going efforts.”