Ripple And Thailand’s Oldest Bank Launched A Cross-Border Payment App Using RippleNet

Several months after signing the initial partnership agreement, Ripple and Siam Commercial Bank (SCB) officially launched an application called SCB EASY for cross-border payments. Thailand’s oldest bank demonstrated the app’s efficiency by completing a transaction in less than a minute.

SCB EASY Is Here

The partnership between the two entities became official at the start of the year, as CryptoPotato reported. At the time, SCB said that it will create a mobile application running on Ripple, which will be employed for low-cost cross-border payments.

And yesterday, the company behind the third-largest cryptocurrency by market cap, announced the launch of Outward Remittance Service (ORC) via SCB EASY.

Per the report, eight of the top ten countries using mobile payments are in Asia. 67% of Thailand’s population has answered in a study that they prefer mobile apps rather than physical payments.

And, despite the current shrinking of the tourist sector prompted by the COVID-19 outbreak, the number of people working outside the country has been growing continuously.

While they are now struggling with sending money in a complicated and slower process, the new application could facilitate it significantly, said SCB’s SVP of Commercial Banking, Arthit Sriumporn:

“It is so difficult to send and receive money today. People must physically go to a bank branch, fill out long and complicated forms, and wait for payments to be received – with no transparency. With our service, their loved ones from abroad can transfer payment and receive money immediately.”

Testing And Features

Sriumporn presented a demonstration of the SCB EASY app, and the money reached the recipient’s bank account within 40 seconds. The partnership with Ripple can easily fulfill the demands of customers for low-cost, fast, and reliable cross-border payments, he commented.

The collaboration between the two will produce new features soon, the statement explained. SCB plans to expand its USD, EUR, GBP, and SGD remittance service across twelve countries. Those include the USA, the UK, France, Spain, Italy, Netherlands, Germany, and more.

The bank is also working with Ripple to offer cross-border EMVCo QR payments. They are a popular payment method across Southeast Asia but typically used locally. However, SCB and Ripple plan to expand it internationally.

Interestingly, Ripple has been quite active in Thailand. The company recently partnered with a local fintech firm called DeeMoney. The latter will utilize RippleNet for more efficient, faster, and cheaper international money transfers.