French bank tests Ripple transfers
Customers will be able to settle transfers in local currencies from their smartphones, almost instantly.
French bank Crédit Agricole and its payment services will trial Ripple’s blockchain to improve the efficiency of foreign exchange money transfers for regional banking customers who live near the Switzerland border.
Despite the close proximity, these international money transfers typically take up to three days to process. The test will allow credit transfers between two countries in “just a few minutes”, according to Crédit Agricole.
The bank said that the process will be completed using smartphones and will enable customers to settle transfers in local currencies, in real time, bank to bank, keeping time-stamped, unfalsifiable records.
Crédit Agricole said Ripple’s blockchain technology will “ensure transparency and cut down on transfer costs”.
The test, which will last six months before being rolled out to the entire territory, will cover salary transfers in Swiss francs for some cross-border customers, between regional bank Crédit Agricole des Savoie and Swiss bank Crédit Agricole Next Bank.
A breakdown of the tests risks and challenges will be presented at the Paris Fintech Forum on 30 January 2018.
A number of Crédit Agricole’s subsidiaries are experimenting with Ripple’s blockchain technology, including Crédit Agricole Payment Services, Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank, Crédit Agricole Technologies & Services and Crédit Agricole Private Banking Services.
In its announcement Crédit Agricole does not mention whether it will use Ripple’s digital token, XRP.
After teaming with international currency transfers firm MoneyGram earlier this month, Ripple revealed two new partners, IDT Corporation and MercuryFX, that will also pilot its on-demand liquidity solution, xRapid.
IDT is a global communications and payment services company, while MercuryFX is an international currency exchange platform. Both companies will use xRapid to settle retail remittances and corporate transactions.
Earlier this week, Stellar Lumens (XLM) released its 2018 Roadmap, revealing plans to incorporate high-volume micropayments enterprise the Lightning Network to enhance scalability and improve system security.
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