Ripple signs European payment providers Lemonway and Xbaht
Paris-based payment provider Lemonway and Swedish money transfer provider Xbaht are onboarding RippleNet to tap its increasingly popular blockchain solution for cross-border payments and settlement.
Lemonway has adopted the RippleNet’s On-Demand Liquidity (ODL), which leverages XRP for crypto-enabled payments, to enhance its treasury payments processes.
As the first ODL customer in France, Lemonway will benefit from operational efficiencies by eliminating the need to pre-fund accounts abroad, giving its customers the opportunity to use previously trapped pre-funded capital to grow and scale their business.
“By using Ripple’s ODL to underpin Lemonway’s treasury operations we are looking forward to bringing significant benefits to our business which we can in turn pass onto our clients. Ripple’s solution allows us greater flexibility around when we make payments to our partners, releasing us from the traditional banking cut-off cycle and driving operational efficiencies which will allow us to free up funds to invest into our business while enhancing our customer offering,” said Jeremy Ricordeau, COO at Lemonway.
France’s Pacte Law encompasses a very broad range of measures covering many aspects of all crypto-active players. The current laws require cryptocurrency exchanges as well as custodian providers to undergo a mandatory AMF registration and obtain a certification to be granted by the French watchdog. France’s primary regulator confirmed that it is already involved with other crypto-related operators such as exchange platforms, custodians, and asset managers.
Ripple continues to consider alternative locations
Meanwhile, Ripple’s new partnership with Xbaht will enable the latter to roll out a direct remittance service for money transfers between Sweden and Thailand, with plans to support more corridors and use cases in the future.
Xbaht’s new partnership with Ripple sees the company offering instant and cost-effective retail remittances via ODL, supported by Tranglo, the cross-border payment hub based in Singapore.
The partnership with its new customers means things are shifting for Ripple’s business across Europe into a higher gear. Together, they will make it easier for consumers and businesses in France and Sweden to make real-time payments across borders powered by Ripple’s financial technology, RippleNet.
Through On-Demand Liquidity, RippleNet utilizes XRP as a bridge between two currencies, thus lowering operational costs, unlocking capital, and enables the users to avoid pre-funding accounts on each side of a transaction.
The move comes as Ripple continues to consider alternative locations for its business amid ongoing regulatory woes in the US over its cryptocurrency.
“We are delighted to be working with Lemonway and Xbaht, our first ODL customers in France and Sweden respectively. Since our inception ten years ago, Ripple has focused on using blockchain and crypto to build real use cases. This is why we have become the partner of choice for enterprises such as Lemonway and Xbaht looking to tap into global crypto liquidity to eliminate the traditional problems associated with cross-border payments such as lack of speed, unreliability and excessive cost,” said Sendi Young, Managing Director of Europe at Ripple.
