Santander has set a Q1 2018 launch date for the introduction of same day mobile international payments for personal customers using Ripple's distributed ledger technology.
Santander has been piloting the technology for 18 months with bank staffers. The app has been tested with Apple Pay for payments of between £10 and £10,000 using Touch ID for secure sign-in.
Santander plans to introduce the service in four countries simultaneously and promises full transparency on fees and FX upfront.
"We expect to be one of the first global banks to roll out distributed ledger technology based payments for individuals," the bank told analysts.
-Bank of Abu Dhabi-
Ripple announced on its site today that The National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD) has become the first bank in the Middle East to use Ripple’s solution to provide real-time cross-border payments to its customers.
Through Ripple, NBAD customers have an efficient, secure and reliable channel to make immediate international remittances and payments between regional markets. Applied to NBAD’s already innovative remittance infrastructure, the Ripple solution offers customers end-to-end visibility of transactions and allow for the instant transfer of funds to a beneficiary in a cost-effective manner.
Ramana Kumar, Managing Director & Head of GTB Business and Product Management, said: “At NBAD we strive to ensure our offerings are efficient and transparent. Blockchain technology transforms and paves a new way in achieving our goals and better serve our customers, adding value through accessibility and transparency. As an initial adopter and first bank to go live on Ripple, NBAD offers innovative solutions to our clients payments needs.”