Ripple, distributed ledger technology provider, and SBI Holdings, Inc., global financial services company, have struck a multinational deal to create a new company ‘SBI Ripple Asia’, in order to meet growing demand for Ripple solutions across Asia.
The new company will mainly focus on selling and installing Ripple’s enterprise solutions for cross-border payments at banks across the region by building an engineering and sales force across Japan, China, Taiwan, Korea, and ASEAN countries.
Chris Larsen, Ripple co-founder and CEO, said that SBI’s deep expertise and extensive network across banking, capital markets, insurance and payments will help scale Ripple in some of the fastest-growing financial markets in the world.
“Interbank payments establish the foundation of the Internet of Value. SBI is the perfect partner to help forge that foundation and then extend Ripple’s capabilities to new use cases in the future”, he said.
SBI Holdings has already built joint ventures with international financial services brands, such as E-LOAN, E*TRADE, MorningStar, and Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank. Moreover, it also holds stakes in 10 financial institutions across ASEAN, which will offer a ready-made distribution network for Ripple’s bank solutions.
“Surveying the market, Ripple was the only company that has delivered battle-tested enterprise solutions and global bank customer traction, including commercial deals with top banks already signed in Asia Pacific,” said President and CEO of SBI Holdings Yoshitaka Kitao. “Distributed financial technology is undoubtedly transforming financial infrastructure and we’re excited to drive its adoption throughout Asia.”
The companies have also agreed to work together to list Ripple’s native digital asset XRP, through its online brokerage properties, including the largest online trading platform in Japan.
