A Malaysian fintech start-up announced on Oct. 15 that it has successfully conducted its first blockchain-based cross-border transaction through the Ripple blockchain. In an official statement, the Kuala Lumpur based start-up revealed that the transaction was sent over a Ripple product called xVia, a standard application program interface (API) solution to power payments to and from emerging markets through Ripple’s decentralized global payment network, RippleNet.
In an official statement made on Oct. 15, Adrian Yap, CEO of MoneyMatch, said:
“We’re really proud to make this announcement today as we show clear evidence that a FinTech startup made wholly in Malaysia by young Malaysians is capable of integrating into Ripple blockchain and performing a live legitimate international money transfer from Malaysia to Europe.”
A Historic Moment in the Malaysian Fintech Sphere
The transaction that helped a local retailer convert Malaysian ringgit to euros is reportedly the first blockchain-powered cross-border ever settled in Malaysia. According to Fintech News Malaysia, the settlement process took just hours for the funds to be sent over from Malaysia to Spain and cost the client a “significantly lower cost than a bank’s traditional telegraphic transfer.”
If conducted via a traditional international bank wire transfer, a cross-border payment, or a global remittance, would have taken several hours to up to several days — depending on the nature of the transaction and the means of settlement — for the funds to be transferred from the sender’s account to the receiver’s account.
In the official statement made to the Malaysian National News Agency (BERNAMA), and reported by The Edge Markets, MoneyMatch revealed that following the Malaysia–Spain fund transfer, the company also conducted live blockchain-based cross-border payments to Ireland, Latvia, and Germany. The statement reads:
“With the first successful blockchain cross-border transaction to Europe, MoneyMatch will now be able to sustainably offer the best pricing and the fastest speeds of international payments to Europe. MoneyMatch will continue to work with multiple regulated partners in overseas jurisdictions which are on the Ripple blockchain such as India, Thailand, USA and more.”
What Is Ripple’s xVia?
Ripple’s xVia is regarded by many as the right product that allows businesses to easily connect to RippleNet in order to send payments by leveraging its benefits. xVia works by providing an API solution to its corporate clients, which, simply put, acts as a software that provides services to other software.
By providing standard API solutions, xVia allows payment providers, remittance service providers, digital wallets, and other financial institutions to have a quick and simple way to send payments without the need for custom connections to interact and complete transactions. xVia also grants traceability and near-real settlements for each payment made through RippleNet.
A Ripple Insights blog entry reports that, so far, four payment firms have been adopting xVia, alongside MoneyMatch. These companies are FairFX, RationalFX, Exchange4Free (three London-based foreign currency exchanges), and UniPay (a Georgian company that provides electronic wallet solution to transfer, receive, and withdraw money online).
The company hopes to attract more payment providers, from traditional financial institutions to telcos, in order to boost RippleNet’s growth and address the needs of a more than ever interconnected global economy.
