CIMB Group is one of the leading financial institutions in Southeast Asia. It is the fifth largest bank in ASEAN by total assets.
Ripple has announced that CIMB Group is getting ready to join its network in order to offer its customers with quick and inexpensive cross-border payments.
CIMB is one of the first banking giants to take advantage of blockchain technology in a region that is known for having the slowest money transfer speeds.
Commenting on the new strategic partnership, CIMB Group CEO Sri Zafrul Aziz, said:
“This innovative blockchain solution will revolutionize international cross-border remittances, and is a testament to CIMB’s ongoing efforts to enhance its digital banking proposition by providing speedy and cost-efficient solutions to our customers across ASEAN.”
He added that “send vital funds to family, friends and loved ones more efficiently. With its focus on innovation, CIMB will continue to be a dominant force in the region for years to come.”
The company will use Ripple’s software solutions on top of its existing system called SpeedSend.
According to the World Bank, the transfer volume to Southeast Asia has grown to over $120 billion. Another data from the Boston Consultancy Group also suggests that the global cross-border payments market totals $27 trillion.
According to Bloomberg, Ripple wants to replace SWIFT as the global money transfer giant. Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse was responding to rumors that Ripple was looking forward to partnering with SWIFT. He said:
“Swift is owned by banks, Ripple is here to help the banks […] what we are doing on a day-to-day basis is, in fact, taking over SWIFT. We’ve signed well over 100 banks, some of the world’s largest SWIFT-enabled banks are now using Ripple’s technology.”