Sarah Austin Says SAP is Testing XRP Integration

Enterprise software maker SAP hosted a chat on Twitter yesterday explaining how blockchain can work for enterprise users.

The chat featured basic information about how blockchain technology could improve business processes, make various industries more efficient, and optimize transaction efficiency.

However, buried in the chat was a nugget of information that users quickly latched onto: SAP is testing integration with Ripple’s XRP digital token.

That news comes from Sarah Austin, Product Marketing Consultant at SAP. Austin is an entrepreneur and content creator who was named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 list. She has worked at SAP in Silicon Valley since 2012.

In a tweet, Austin revealed that SAP had been testing XRP integration:

We will definitely be discussing tokenization of assets as something that can benefit enterprise, however, crypto as a feature is not something of high priority for the enterprise right now. SAP is testing XRP integrations. #BlockchainChat — Sarah Austin (@sarahaustin) September 6, 2018

Austin was responding to a question from XRP Research Center (@XrpCenter) asking how crypto could benefit current enterprise applications. Although Austin declined to explain how crypto could benefit enterprise users, she acknowledged that SAP was working on XRP integration.

Ripple’s XRP, for those out of the loop, isn’t technically a cryptocurrency. It’s a digital payments network designed specifically for enterprise users – including big banks and financial institutions. Ripple has already partnered with Santander and other major institutions to integrate XRP, bringing blockchain to the world of financial transactions.

In layman’s terms, XRP can make it cheaper, faster, and easier to transfer money around the world.

Now, SAP is reportedly testing XRP integrations itself. That could allow SAP’s customers – including over 330,000+ corporations worldwide – to access a cheaper, more efficient payment network. Think of how much an international corporation could benefit from being able to seamlessly transfer funds without relying on costly centralized financial institutions.

Ripple Has Partnered with SAP Since 2016

The partnership between Ripple and SAP is nothing new. We first heard rumors of a partnership back in July 2016 when it was reported that SAP and Ripple were collaborating on a cross-border payments trial using blockchain technology.

At the time, it was reported that Canada’s ATB Financial and Germany’s ReiseBank were exploring how banks could improve the efficiency of international payments using blockchain technology. The two banks were working with SAP and Ripple to explore the use of blockchain.

The news from earlier today, however, takes this a step further. SAP is working on integrating XRP directly into its existing business.

SAP has 330,000 corporate customers in 180+ countries who all need to transfer international payments inside their international company network for procurement, sales, salaries, taxes, etc. These companies lose enormous amounts of money to friction – including exchange rate fluctuations, costly transfer fees, and inefficient payment transfer networks.

If SAP is able to integrate XRP into its service, then big corporations that use SAP may start demanding XRP integration from their banks in all countries in which they operate.

In other words, this is huge news for Ripple and XRP.