The relationship between Ripple and Santander Bank has flourished over the years and this is bound to get even better. Santander UK, the UK arm of Spanish banking conglomerate Santander Group, announced that it’s currently testing the mobile app that would give users the ability to transfer money in seconds across the world. This would make Santander the first UK bank to use the blockchain technology to transfer live international payments.
Nathan Bostock, the CEO of the bank which is one of the biggest banks in the UK confirmed the partnership, wittingly adding that Santander UK would be the first major retail bank to fully integrate blockchain technology for large-scale cross-border payments “if nobody beats them to it”.
The app will be easy to use; once a user downloads it and feeds in his details, he can start sending money all across the world at a fraction of the current cost. As explained in their press release, the app will support GBP, EUR and USD.
“Once the app is downloaded, users need to complete their profile details and can then start to make payments. It connects to Apple Pay, where users can confirm payments securely using Touch ID. It lets users transfer between £10 and £10,000 and payments can be made from GBP to EUR and USD. Currently, payments made in EUR can be sent to 21 countries and US Dollar payments to the USA only”
The Head of Customer and Innovation at Santander, Sigga Sigurdardottir hailed Ripple as one of the most innovative companies in the world which was why Santander was keen to work with them. He also recognized the blockchain technology as crucial to the bank’s philosophy of helping their clients achieve their goals by creating more choice and convenience for them.
Security is of paramount importance and would not be compromised at whatever cost, the press release added.
“Security and regulatory compliance is central to all activity undertaken at Santander and this app has undergone the same rigorous testing all new technology goes through ahead of roll out.”
The app would go live in Spain, Poland, Brazil and the UK according to Ana Botin, Santander Group’s CEO. It would use Ripple’s xCurrent platform which allows banks to settle payments instantly with end-to-end tracking. No specific date has been provided regarding when the app will become available to users but it’s bound to be soon.
