SBI Remit, Ripple Partner for XRP Remittances in Asia

SBI Group, a Japanese financial holding company, has announced that its international remittance services division, SBI Remit, has partnered with Ripple and SBI Ripple Asia to offer an XRP remittance service to bank accounts in several Southeast Asian nations.

SBI Remit has utilized Ripple’s payment services for international remittances since 2017, the company announced in a press release.

In addition, SBI Remit introduced crypto-based solutions in 2021, claiming to be the first company in Japan to offer remittance services using XRP to crypto wallets in the Philippines.

The payment technology service will be expanded to bank accounts in the Philippines, Vietnam, and Indonesia with the new update. Through the program, SBI Remit will use XRP as a bridge currency to facilitate rapid and cost-effective international money transfers.

SBI expects adoption to accelerate due to the high volume of remittances to bank accounts in the aforementioned countries, as stated in the announcement.

In addition, SBI emphasized that it collaborated with Tranglo, a provider of cross-border payment solutions, to make the expansion feasible.

SBI did not provide a specific date for when the service will be available, but the company emphasized that it will be launched within this month.

Despite the ongoing lawsuit in the United States, Ripple’s services continue to gain traction in Japan. On April 17, the Japanese institutions Yamaguchi, Momiji, and Kitakyushu began supporting MoneyTap P2P, a RippleNet-based remittance service.

The banks have more than 170 local branches and are regarded as some of the largest banking institutions in the country.