Ripple is a cryptocurrency-based money transfer and payments network founded in 2012. Recently, this business has been collaborating with payments fintech Onafriq to broaden remittance capabilities in Africa and extend connections to the U.K., Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), and Australia.
The partnership will establish three blockchain-based payment corridors connecting Onafriq users in Africa with PayAngel in the U.K., Pyyl in the GCC, and Zazi Transfer in Australia, as stated in an announcement Wednesday at Swell, Ripple’s annual conference in Dubai.
“Onafriq is a major payment player in Africa that serves 400 million mobile wallets,” said Monica Long, Ripple’s president. “We are excited about this because it also contributes to Ripple payments being able to cover 90% of F.X. markets.”
Ripple is praised as a symbol of defiance in the cryptocurrency sector, having confronted and achieved some success against the widely perceived heavy-handed and reactive actions of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Ripple recently also experienced a surge in XRP prices following approval by the Dubai Financial Services Authority and its involvement in a central bank digital currency project with the National Bank of Georgia.
Additionally, Ripple unveiled various product enhancements and licence updates, with a big shift focused on payments between enterprises and smaller businesses. These achievements have reinforced the prowess of Ripple in building up its licences, including money transmitter licences in the U.S. and an institutional payments licence in Singapore, with recent filings in the U.K. and E.U.
“Our set of licenses means we can serve a bigger market,” Long said. “Previously, we only served licensed financial institutions and now we’re able to serve enterprises and SMEs. So for example, importer/exporters and paying suppliers overseas, or paying employees in a company that has freelance developers in different parts of the world.”