By
Chimamanda U. Martha
April 18th, 2024
Ripple’s xRapid allowed Mercury FX to complete the payment in a few seconds compared to 31 hours usually required. What is more, the fees saved made up $102.
Ripple its XRP have been making a lot of headlines lately. The company has great expansion plans that have been boosted by the recent announcement from its partner – Mercury FX.
On March 5, Mercury FX, global currency exchange provider, announced it had completed its first live commercial payment to the Philippines via Ripple’s xRapid. The transaction was completed on behalf of a client in the UK who wanted to send money across the world in order to pay for the honeymoon.
This payment has become the first commercial payment made via xRapid platform. It was completed in a few seconds compared to 31 hours usually required. What is more, the fees saved made up $102.
According to Mercury FX, people are now able to send money by opening an account that supports over 40 currencies. However, such payment is to be over £5,000 for it to be profitable.
3/3 We are now open for business for company and individual payments to Mexico and the Philippines with #XRP. Open an account here: https://t.co/DTqRZvGlqm
— Mercury Global (@mercuryfxglobal) March 5, 2019
Founded in December 2007 by Alastair Constance, Mercury FX is described as “a hassle-free and cost-effective alternative to banks for receiving and sending international currencies.” The company has offices in London, Hong Kong, and Cape Town.
Earlier, Mercury FX had experience with commercial payments. In January, they completed their largest commercial payment sending 4,574 from the UK to Mexico. According to the company, by the middle of 2019, they are going to open ten new payment corridors using Ripple’s xRapid. There will be routes to the Middle East and Canada. Alastair Constance, the CEO and founder of Mercury FX, said that two banks in the UAE will be going live soon.
Ripple vs SWIFT: Tug of War
Earlier, Constance explained why xRapid has been chosen for such transactions:
“Ripple, XRP and fiat currency fit hand in glove. What we’re doing together is realizing one of the best use cases for frictionless transactions, which is international settlement. xRapid allows us to drive down the cost of currency exchange and global settlement, making our customers more competitive and saving them tens of millions of dollars each year.
Digital assets promise fast transaction speeds but XRP is far faster than all of them, including bitcoin. Cutting settlement times from hours and days to just three seconds or less will remove billions of dollars in unnecessary intermediary fees.”
Mercury FX CEO believes that Ripple’s xRapid is a good alternative to SWIFT, Ripple’s major competitor. He said:
“We did our first live commercial payments a couple of weeks ago. So we are now making payments for a UK corporate to Mexico to import Mexican food. And they are moving a lot faster than payments would go through Swift, at a much lower cost…”
In February, Alaistair Constance praised the xRapid solutions for its faster and low-cost cross-border transactions. Moreover, making payments through xRapid doesn’t require high-end technical know-how, and users do not need to dive deep in understanding the working of Ripple blockchain, which is a significant advantage.
Ripple and XRP have been widely discussed lately. Many crypto enthusiasts and famous investors believe in the currency’s potential, which adds to its popularity.
At the moment of writing, XRP trades at $ 0.316291. The price has increased by 0,98% in the last 24 hours.
*To learn more about XRP coin, Ripple company, and their innovative solutions, please check out our awesome guide.