Major Japanese financial services company SBI Holdings is embracing XRP for international remittances between Japan and key Asian markets through its subsidiary SBI Remit. Starting this month, SBI Remit will use the crypto asset XRP to facilitate low-cost settlements for remittances to bank accounts in the Philippines, Vietnam, and Indonesia.
The service works by first sending an equivalent value in XRP when a remittance is initiated. Once received, the XRP is converted into local currency for bank account deposits. Parts from the statement released by SBI read:
“By leveraging XRP as a bridge currency, SBI Remit is able to diminish the cost of pre-funding destination accounts. In addition, this has excellent scalability as money can be easily transferred to Ripple’s partners around the world.”
SBI Holdings has been bullish on utilizing XRP more broadly for cross-border payments through partnerships with Ripple. This latest expansion into remittance corridors with high bank account usage represents a major milestone.
The firm believes XRP is primed for mass adoption in remittance due to its speed, cost, and liquidity advantages over traditional rails. By tapping into major remittance destinations, SBI can showcase these benefits to boost crypto utility.
However, it remains unclear when additional countries may be added. For now, the launch centers on advancing real-world XRP usage in key Asian markets.
While this is a positive development for XRP, the regulatory landscape remains uncertain. Questions around XRP’s security status continue to cause hesitation among major US financial institutions. However, if successful, SBI’s initiative could compel others to re-evaluate XRP’s capabilities.
The announcement, however, hasn’t affected the price of XRP in a positive way. According to the latest data from CoinMarketCap, XRP was trading at $0.5014 at press time.
