- Siam Commercial Bank announces details, including opting for xCurrent payment messaging service
- Fast transfers form part of the benefit to both the bank and the consumer
- “It was giving customers what they wanted, not what we as a bank wanted to push”, says CTO
Details of the partnership between blockchain-powered cross-border payments service Ripple and Thailand’s largest bank have been revealed.
Siam Commercial Bank (SCB) Thailand has published details on its corporate website showing what it is doing to enhance its blockchain offering to customers.
It has outlined its use of the payment message service xCurrent as well.
This stands in contrast to the decision of some banks which are experimenting with Ripple. An alternative is to use xRapid, which is fuelled by XRP.
Despite choosing the xCurrent option, transfer times under the new system are speedy.
According to a post on the bank’s website, many online money transfer transactions are now taking place in a matter of seconds.
“With Ripple blockchain technology, money reaches the destination account within seconds or no more than three days, depending on the money transfer system in the destination country”, the post reads.
These even apply to transfers which are being made between Thailand and Europe.
The Siam Commercial Bank has been a key proponent of Ripple in recent years.
Its Chief Technology Officer, Colin Dinn, said in an interview that the implementation of a Ripple-powered solution was essential in order to respond properly to customer demand.
In an interview published last year, Dinn said the firm had “aggressive ambition”.
“Why did we look at Ripple? Because we saw that it has a customer-centric capability. It was giving customers what they wanted, not what we as a bank wanted to push”, he is quoted as having said.
“With Ripple, we found a way and a partner that could actually work with us in a very different way… We have got aggressive ambition. We want to do things differently. We want to really change.
“We don’t see a bank being relevant to its customers in the next five to eight years. In fact, my personal view – not the bank – but my personal view is it’s going to be very hard for a bank to exist in five to eight years. There will be a product behind some other brand”, he added.
Siam Commercial Bank is a large Thai banking corporation which offers a wide range of personal and corporate banking products. It has a royal charter and has been in business since 1907.
Ripple describes itself as a way of sending cash in a “frictionless” manner around the world.
It “connects banks and payment providers via RippleNet to provide one frictionless experience for sending and receiving money globally”, it said.
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