UK currency conversion company Currencies Direct have recently announced a successful trial and implementation of Ripple's xRapid platform. Currencies Direct specialise in reducing fees involved in currency conversion in the eCommerce world. They look at minimizing fees by providing cheaper exchange rates for online retailers than they receive as standard from e-marketplaces such as Amazon.

The successful adoption of xRapid will allow Currencies Direct to push forward in this industry and take a huge leap ahead of its competitors. The results of the trial saw an transfers between pre-screened parties take seconds rather than the usual 3 to 5 day period they are used to seeing. This is astonishing progress and a massive step for this industry.

This trial is a great technological example that demonstrates a genuine use case for cryptocurrencies such as Ripple to revolutionise payment transfers. The trial has served as technological proof that XRP is a great tool for the transfer of value, achieving superior speed of payment to traditonal methods as well as end-to-end transparency .

Our trial with XRP was a resounding success. We’re currently assessing our next steps, but the evidence we’ve gathered indicates that the use of XRP is a game changer, making payments near-immediate and significantly improving service to our customers. Our goal is to offer the best possible service. We believe that utilising cryptocurrencies in this way – as a transfer of value, rather than as a store of value – is the next logical step for our industry. It is, after all, the intended purpose of cryptocurrencies and we’re proud to be leveraging new technology to deliver the most convenient and seamless experience for our customers. This represents a revolutionary step for the industry and clearly shows how FinTech companies like Currencies Direct are helping to revolutionise the financial services sector. We’re proud to be early adopters of this technology.

– Brian Harris, Chief Product Officer, Currencies Direct