One of Saudi Arabia’s biggest banks has announced that it has launched a Ripple powered cross-border payment service for its customers. Saudi British Bank (SABB) is one a strategic mission to revolutionize its banking service, and implementing state-of-the-art blockchain technology is a key step to reaching its goals. SABB made its first successful payment using the platform back in December 2018 using the Indian Rupee.
Strengthening Its Position
Currently, cross-border payments can take a number of days to be completed and clear into the recipient’s account, so this new instant payment service will definitely help SABB step up its game. Majed Najm – SABB Deputy Managing Director Corporate and Institutional Banking – made it clear that SABB is exploring the latest technology to provide its customers with an unparalleled level of service. SABB is hoping that this new Ripple powered payment system will not only make cross-border payments faster, but cheaper, safer and more transparent. Najm followed this up by adding:
“This is also to maintain our leading position in achieving the ambitions of the Bank’s customers whether in the retail or corporate sector and to support SABB’s vision to be the leading global bank in the Kingdom.”
Ripple Expanding Across the Middle East
Ripple has been on a mission to take over the Middle East – peacefully, of course – by deploying its distributed ledger technology (DLT) with as many banks as possible. Back in February, UAE Exchange and Unimoni partnered with Ripple to deploy RippleNet to create a global payments corridor. SABB hasn’t yet confirmed if it will be converting the payments into XRP before sending to the recipient’s bank account, but if so it could huge for the price of XRP – Ripple’s token.
Topping Up Accounts
If you follow Whale Alerts on Twitter, you will be well aware that Ripple has been moving vast amounts of XRP from escrow to client accounts. These massive transactions are the huge piles of XRP that the Ripple network will use to process payments. As new clients sign up, they will purchase huge troughs of XRP to provide its side of the network channel with liquidity – meaning new partners can get down to business right away. However, this practice is forcing the XRP price lower and lower as the market becomes more saturated with XRP tokens.
SABB is helping Ripple achieve its goals of taking over the Middle East and finally show the world it has the power to change industries. SABB customers making cross-border payments will be able to select this new platform as an option when making their payments, saving time and money!
