Ripple strikes three new deals in South Korea to improve remittances

Ripple has added three new customers in South Korea who will utilize its blockchain-based payments network RippleNet.

The deals have been signed with money transfer firms Sentbe, Hanpass and WireBarley, Ripple announced Tuesday. These firms aim to facilitate faster and cheaper cross-border payments via RippleNet.

Sentbe focuses on the South-and Northeast Asia corridor, including the Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam, Japan and China; Hanpass focuses on South Korea; and WireBarley provides services in the Australian corridor, as well as New Zealand, Hong Kong, Japan and South Korea.

“South Korea is a hotbed of fintech innovation, and we’re committed to grow our customer base and presence,” said Emi Yoshikawa, senior director of global operations at Ripple. “Since the Korean government started licensing payment providers for remittance in 2017, we have witnessed how Korean payment providers dramatically improved payments experience for their customers, and we are pleased to be part of their on-going efforts.”

Another Korean remittance firm Coinone Transfer, which joined RippleNet in 2018, has experienced a 50% month-over-month growth rate in payment volume since joining the network, according to Ripple.

Notably, Ripple said Tuesday that almost half of its RippleNet customers are based in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region.