Renowned Japanese bank Mitsubishi UFG Bank and its wholly-owned subsidiary Banco MUFG Brasil signed a MoU with Brazil’s Banco Bradesco SA Bank to create a new cross-border payments corridor.
The overseas payments network will work between Japan and Brazil, utilizing blockchain solutions from the US-based fintech company Ripple. MUFG is a part of Ripple’s Global Payments Steering Group along with numerous other prominent banking groups of the world.
Using xRapid for Cross-border Settlements
According to the MoU, the two entities will use the xRapid solution from Ripple for quick and cost-efficient cross-border transactions between Japan and Brazil. Ripple announced the partnership on its Twitter profile, writing:
“@Bradesco and @btmu_official are leveraging Ripple’s #blockchain technology. They are going to create a new cross-border payment service between Japan and Brazil.”
MUFG is one of the most prominent financial institutions in the world and a part of the Japanese banking entity Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group. In a press statement, MUFG noted:
“The MOU is an extension of an existing September 2017 collaboration agreement between MUFG Bank and Bradesco. Furthermore, it represents the banks’ most recent business engagement.”
Ripple’s Global Presence
Ripple’s blockchain solutions are being utilized by several prominent regional banking entities to facilitate cross-border payments. MUFG is one of the most significant partners of Ripple that joined its Global Payments Steering Group in March this year. Santander, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Westpac Banking Corporation, CIBC, Standard Chartered and the Royal Bank of Canada are other members of the group.
MUFG said at the time of joining that it is looking forward to utilizing fintech to provide better services to their customers.
The solution to be used by MUFG and Banco Bradesco is xRapid, which facilitates easy cross-border transactions using Ripple’s native digital asset XRP. The digital asset is used for making transfers, which is then converted to and from fiat currencies. Using Ripple’s solutions is easier. It eliminates the days of waiting that come with traditional wire transfers and also removes issues like foreign exchange rate for the customers.
