- Firm to build up its presence in the region, with moves to work alongside regulatory bodies and other firms in an effort to find potential partners to use XRP
- Expansion to Brazil comes on the back of acknowledgement that the country has good regulations – and moves to Argentina are expected to follow in future
“Brazil is a leader in fintech innovation and positioned to forge a path for the rest of Latin America to follow”, says Ripple spokesperson
Fast-growing blockchain-powered payment platform Ripple has announced it will expand into a key South American market – and follow up the move in future with other South American economies too.
The liquidity-boosting cross border payments platform, which has already signed agreements to work alongside a wide range of institutions with global presences including MoneyGram, will scale up its presence in the country.
In South America in particular, it has a number of partnership agreements in place – and it works alongside names such as Rendimento and Santander.
However, these institutions do not use one of Ripple’s key products – XRP, which is also known as a “digital asset”.
XRP is able to provide organisations involved in the payment pathway with liquidity when they need it, or “on-demand” as it is known.
This is especially useful for organisations which are unable to access a sufficient amount of conventional, “fiat” liquidity.
Instead, these current partner organisations simply use the messaging system associated with Ripple.
Now, a Ripple statement has revealed that the organisation is in touch with companies – as well as regulators in the country – about potential partnerships and other steps forward.
It is believed that Brazil was an appealing spot for potential expansion for Ripple given that it has a reputation for having banking regulations which prioritise clarity.
It is also understood that 30% of remittances and other transactions placed via Ripple’s platforms come from Brazil.
However, the plans for expansion also cover other parts of the South American continent – with expansion to Argentina, Peru and other nations believed to be in the pipeline.
In a statement, Ripple’s managing director – Luiz Antonio Sacco – emphasised Brazil’s status as being “a leader in fintech innovation”.
“We are excited to grow our ecosystem in the region and bring additional financial institutions onto RippleNet to help provide excellent, efficient cross-border payment experiences for their customers”, he said.
“Brazil is a leader in fintech innovation and positioned to forge a path for the rest of Latin America to follow”, he added.
Ripple has quickly become a big name on the international money transfer scene.
It currently operates in 45 markets around the world, and its products are known for improving the speed of cross border transactions.
They are also known for reducing the costs involved.
If you need to find out more about what Ripple and organisations similar to it are doing in the international money transfer world, we can help.
Just head over to our magazine pages to discover more.
