India’s Axis Bank Taps Ripple Blockchain for Cross-Border Remittance
Indian private sector lendor Axis Bank will soon implement blockchain solutions to a core banking operation in cross-border remittance, a report has revealed.
According to Indian business daily the Economic Times , India’s third-largest private bank will be using Ripple’s blockchain technology for cross-border remittances.
“We are committed to using innovation in technology to make banking simple and convenient for our customers,” said deputy managing director V Srinivasan, in quotes reported by the daily.
The banking executive sees blockchain technology enabling real-time money transfers at affordable prices. Traditional money remittance transfers across borders typically take multiple days with a notable percentage of the value taken away as transfer fees by the provider.
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse sees India – the world’s largest remittance receiver – as a significant market for blockchain disruption.
Given its status as the fastest-growing major economy in the world and the top market for remittances, India is a very important market that is ripe for payments innovation.
Axis Bank was first revealed to be conducting blockchain pilot transactions in October 2016. At the time, the bank’s CIO Amit Sethi revealed that the innovation will impact corporate banking before making a splash in the retail consumer banking sector.
India’s Blockchain Rush
Axis Bank’s endeavor to develop blockchain-based remittance comes after competitor and India’s largest private sector bank ICICI announced the successful results of a blockchain remittance pilot last October. The bank established a digital division to study, develop and harness blockchain technology prior to the pilot in mid-2016. In an interview, the bank’s chief executive added that ICICI was “constantly looking” at blockchain technology with the aim to enhance banking solutions to consumers.
More recently, another prominent Indian private sector institution Yes Bank announced its implementation of a multi-node blockchain solution for vendor financing in the country. A smart contracts-based distributed ledger from the open-source blockchain project Hyperledger was put to use. The bank roped in IBM as its technology partner, using the tech giant’s “Hybrid Cloud” platform to host the blockchain.
The rampant development and deployment of blockchain solutions in India could position the country among the leading pack of adopters to put the innovation to use in real-world applications.
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