Ripple has partnered with South Korea’s Jeonbuk Bank to expand cross-border payment services through Ripple Payments. The agreement makes Jeonbuk Bank the first regional lender in the country to adopt the platform for international transfers, according to the companies.
The partnership will focus on improving the bank’s overseas payment system. Jeonbuk Bank plans to use the technology to reduce delays linked to traditional cross-border transfers.
Ripple Targets Faster Cross-Border Business Payments
Payments that can take several days through conventional banking channels could settle within seconds or minutes. The service will also operate 24 hours a day, including weekends and public holidays.
The new service will mainly support businesses that make frequent cross-border payments. Target users include import-export firms, technology startups, and digital content companies.
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According to Fiona Murray, managing director for Asia Pacific at Ripple, the agreement is indicative of increased institutional interest from South Korea’s financial institutions.
Park Choon-won, president of Jeonbuk Bank, mentioned that this collaboration is in line with the expansion plans of the bank beyond its regional ambitions. He further noted that the bank wanted to enhance its standing in the digital finance space.
Whether the service will use XRP tokens, the Ripple RLUSD stablecoin, or direct fiat-to-fiat payments is also unknown. The launch date and fees for the services have not been announced yet.
The Ripple payment system currently supports South Korean won via local clearing facilities. The payment documentation mentions KRW support for certain B2B payments up to $2 million per transaction.
Ripple Adds Another South Korean Institution
Jeonbuk Bank’s tie-up is one of many institutional collaborations being made in South Korea this year.
The collaboration between Kyobo Life Insurance and the blockchain company was made on April 15. This tie-up was about investigating blockchain technology for the settlement of government bonds.
On April 27, Kbank collaborated with the blockchain company. South Korea’s first online-only bank will be using Ripple Custody for Wallet-as-a-Service features.
This tie-up by Jeonbuk Bank brings international payments into the list of institutional services offered by the company.
XRP Price Moves Higher After Announcement
XRP rallied by over 0.60% following the announcement of the Jeonbuk Bank collaboration. The cryptocurrency is trading around $0.996 even as it declined by almost 1.5% over the past 24 hours.
It had hit a 24-hour low of $0.988 and a high of $1.01 during the same period. The trading volume rose by nearly 40% during the same period.
Data from CoinGlass revealed that the total XRP futures open interest had increased by 0.60% over one hour to nearly $2.77 billion. XRP futures open interest on the CME rose by over 0.44%, while the increase was above 0.83% on Binance.
This market response came after the latest institutional bank collaboration of Ripple in South Korea. However, the two firms have yet to confirm if XRP will be used as the international payment solution by Jeonbuk Bank.
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