Not everyone is as clued up when it comes to Ripple’s cross-border payment solutions, and there is no wonder why – they really are rather confusing. One customer service representative for Santander UK has made the common mistake of confusing xCurrent with xRapid. One of the platforms utilizes Ripple’s token – XRP – to facilitate cross-border payments, while the other uses fiat currency. Santander is currently using xCurrent, along with a number of other major banks, and are therefore not using XRP at all.
Hey Wes, we’re doing great. We’re using XRP for international payments to 18 EU countries and the USA. This is on our iPhone app called One Pay FX. ^TC
— Santander UK Help (@santanderukhelp) March 23, 2019
All Going Wrong on Twitter
When a Twitter user that goes by the handle @wesgranger innocently asked,
Hi all how is Santander getting on with using XRP for payments?
, a customer service rep replied with
Hey Wes, we’re doing great. We’re using XRP for international payments to 18 EU countries and the USA. This is on our iPhone app called One Pay FX. ^TC
The customer service rep understood that Santander is using one of Ripple’s platforms, but was miles off with their response.
In a bid to clean up the mess and set the record straight, Santander quickly adjusted the statement, adding:
We are sorry, unfortunately due to a misunderstanding we have given incorrect information. We do apologise for the confusion this has caused. One Pay FX uses xCurrent only.
The XRP army woke up to the news of their life that Santander was using XRP, only to have their hopes and dreams shattered by it being a simple misunderstanding.
We are sorry, unfortunately due to a misunderstanding we have given incorrect information. We do apologise for the confusion this has caused. One Pay FX uses xCurrent only. You can find out more here: https://t.co/EGWMMqZhkA.
— Santander UK Help (@santanderukhelp) March 24, 2019
Quick and Seamless Transition
For companies using xCurrent – like Santander – making the jump to xRapid is remarkably easy. Ripple has developed xRapid and xCurrent to be interchangeable, so once you have one platform integrated with your system, swapping to the other is as simple as turning on a light. This means that Santander, if it wanted to, could quickly and easily swap from using Ripple’s fiat based cross-border payment system to its XRP based system. For the time being, Euro Exim Bank is the only company on xRapid, as XRP proves itself to be more efficient and cheaper than fiat, we could see more banks like Santander making the switch.
In November 2018, Santander joined the EU Blockchain Association, but it still hasn’t made the jump to the world of cryptos. This customer service rep could have let an enormous company secret slip out, and if so the XRP community will go wild for the news. We will find out whether this was an honest mistake or a little teaser in a couple of months.
