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American Express said its FX International Payments (FXIP)
business had partnered with Ripple to provide real-time,
trackable non-card payments from the United States to Britain.
Customers are already using the service, the companies said, and
it would be extended in the future.
This marks one of the first major uses of blockchain, a shared
database of transactions maintained by a network of computers on
the internet that is best known as the system underpinning
bitcoin.
Financial firms hope the nascent technology can reduce the cost
and complexity of burdensome processes such as securities
settlement and international payments, but many say widespread
use of the technology is still several years away.
"American Express has a long history of integrating new
technologies...,” said American Express's chief information
officer Marc Gordon, in a statement.
"This collaboration with Ripple and Santander represents the
next step forward on our blockchain journey, evolving the way we
move money around the world."
New York-based Ripple, whose main focus is blockchain-based
cross-border payments, works with many big banks and is backed
by firms including Standard Chartered Plc <STAN.L>, Accenture
Plc (ACN.N) and SBI Holdings.
The company is in a legal battle with rival blockchain startup
R3 Holdco LLC over an options contract to purchase Ripple’s
digital currency XRP. XRP has increased in value by more than 30
times as other cryptocurrencies have also soared. [nL2N1LP1SH]
"Transfers that used to take days will be completed in real
time, allowing money to move as fast as business today," said
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse in a statement.
(Reporting by Jemima Kelly; editing by John Stonestreet)
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