SAN FRANCISCO, CA--(Marketwired - May 5, 2014) - Ripple Labs today introduced Fidor Bank AG as the first bank to integrate Ripple, the real-time global settlement protocol. By integrating the Ripple protocol into its transaction infrastructure, Fidor will offer customers faster and more affordable money transfer options. The German bank will use its Ripple implementation to power inter-bank payments with other institutions and intra-bank payments between branches. Fidor is the first bank to adopt an open payment protocol and one of a growing number of accredited financial entities deploying Ripple for real-time settlement.

"Ripple is changing the rules of the game for financial institutions, enabling real-time settlement in any currency to strengthen customer relationships and positively impact the bottom line," said Chris Larsen, CEO of Ripple Labs. "As an innovator and leader in the banking industry, Fidor is using Ripple to define a new standard for what a bank can be and how it can serve its customers."

Ripple is an open, decentralized payments protocol that enables anything of value to be traded through a global value web. With Ripple, Fidor customers can instantly send any amount of money in any currency at highly competitive rates through existing Fidor money transfer products. Customers engage with Fidor in a familiar manner and are not required to hold separate Ripple accounts.

Fidor will also use Ripple for intra-bank payments between its German bank and its banks in other countries to lower costs associated with settlement and foreign exchange risk and increase speed for customers and the bank. As more financial institutions adopt Ripple, Fidor will be able to seamlessly transact with those institutions without correspondent banks, fees, time delays or additional integration work.

"Ripple enables us to securely and instantly send money anywhere in the world at no additional cost and through the same customer facing products and relationships we offer today," said Matthias Kröner, CEO of Fidor Bank AG. "With Ripple, we can deliver a superior banking experience at a fraction of the time and cost traditionally expected of a financial institution."

The Ripple payment protocol enables free and virtually instant payments with no chargebacks in any currency or unit of value. Businesses of any size can easily build payment solutions, such as money transfer, prepaid or remittance apps, and accelerate the movement of money on Ripple. Ripple enables the world to move value like information moves today.

For more information about Ripple, please visit http://www.ripple.com.

About Fidor Bank AG:

Fidor Bank AG (http://www.fidor.de) is an internet-based direct bank licensed in Germany. With its Fidor Smart current account the bank addresses private and corporate clients. The Fidor Smart current account is a primary bank account, offering a combination of a classical bank account with internet payments and innovative banking services. The services on offer to corporate clients include selected financing products and a Fidor Smart business account especially created for e-commerce.

About Ripple Labs

Ripple Labs developed the Ripple protocol, which makes transacting as easy as emailing. The San Francisco-based startup is funded by Google Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, IDG Capital Partners, FF Angel, Lightspeed Venture Partners, The Bitcoin Opportunity Fund and Vast Ventures.

The software company's team of 50 is comprised of deeply experienced cryptographers, security experts, distributed network developers, Silicon Valley and Wall Street veterans. They contribute code to the protocol and create tools to enable businesses of any size to easily build payment solutions and accelerate the movement of money globally. The team shepherds a movement to evolve finance so that payment systems are open, secure, constructive and globally inclusive.

Ripple Labs was named one of the 50 Smartest Companies for 2014 by MIT Technology Review.

About Ripple

Ripple is an open-source, distributed payment protocol. It enables nearly free and instant payments with no chargebacks and in any currency - including dollars, yen, euros, Bitcoin, and even loyalty points. Businesses of any size can easily build payment solutions, such as banking or remittance apps, and accelerate the movement of money on Ripple. Ripple enables the world to move value like information moves today. Ripple is currently in beta. For more information about Ripple, please visit http://www.ripple.com.