MoneyGram, the second largest money transfer provider in the world, has partnered with Ripple and will test its technology in an internal pilot plan to improve the efficiency of its services.
The association was announced a few hours ago on the official MoneyGram and Ripple websites. The strategic alliance between the two companies will begin with a pilot plan that seeks to use the Ripple cryptocurrency (XRP) to reduce costs and improve the speed of payment flow in the MoneyGram system, a global remittance transfer company in the United States. Headquarters in Dallas, Texas.
They will also evaluate the integration of the MoneyGram system on the Ripple platform, through xVia. In this way, the international transfer company will use XRP through Ripple's payment and "liquidity on demand" solution: xRapid, an infrastructure aimed at payment providers and other financial institutions that want to minimize liquidity costs.
In essence, MoneyGram seeks to optimize its international payment services and thus improve the experience of its users. Highlight that the pilot program will be tested internally, so that users will not participate in this, as the company told us on their Twitter account.
Brad Garlinghouse
@bgarlinghouse·23h
" We’re proud to work with companies like @Moneygram that value innovative payments solutions – and we'll continue to champion xRapid with customers that value improved speed and cost."
In the area of cross-border transfers, most current systems require money transfer companies to use accounts with prior funds to obtain liquidity and process payments as quickly as possible. The blockchain technology allows eliminating many steps and intermediaries that only delay the process; In this regard, said Brad Garlinghouse, CEO of Ripple, in the statement:
It should be noted that in the market for transfers of remittances and international payments, nearly 600,000 million dollars were sent during 2016 "to help support the family members who live in their countries of origin or to establish transactions with business partners" - according to Ripple's statement.
Together with Ripple, MoneyGram aims to ensure that these international payment services can be carried out in the near future in a faster and cheaper way. MoneyGram CEO Alex Holmes commented: "Ripple is at the forefront of blockchain technology and we look forward to driving xRapid. We hope it will increase efficiency and improve services to MoneyGram customers. "
This alliance with MoneyGram joins the list of strategic partnerships that Ripple has been establishing with more than a hundred financial and banking institutions around the world, including American Express and Santander. It is worth noting that in mid-December, banks in South Korea and Japan began testing cross-border and inter-bank payments with Ripple Net.
Ripple became one of the fastest growing cryptocurrencies in 2017. At the end of last month, it managed to displace Ethereum from second place in the crypto market, registering a maximum value of $ 2.84, although it is currently in third place in the market. and the XRP is priced at about $ 2, according to CoinMarketCap.