Blockchain technology has steadily gained traction in the banking sector over the past five years. After early experiments, many banks moved from pilot projects to real-world applications of distributed ledgers. One of the most prominent such fintechs is Ripple, a San Francisco-based company founded in 2012 with the goal of revolutionizing global payments.
The allure is clear: by using blockchain, cross-border transactions that once took several days via traditional networks like SWIFT can be settled in minutes or seconds, with greater transparency and lower fees.
Ripple rose to prominence on the strength of its cryptocurrency XRP, but its enterprise blockchain solutions extend far beyond a digital coin. Banks and payment providers in dozens of countries have joined RippleNet to improve remittances, corporate payments, and treasury operations. This made Ripple one of the most widely used crypto-focused partners for banks embarking on blockchain adoption.
What to Know
- Banks have ramped up blockchain adoption in cross-border payments, with Ripple emerging as a leading partner for financial institutions during 2020–2025.
- Ripple’s offerings include RippleNet (a global bank payments network) and On-Demand Liquidity (ODL) using the XRP cryptocurrency, enabling instant settlement without pre-funding.
- Major banks across the world – from Spain’s Santander to Thailand’s Siam Commercial Bank – have deployed Ripple’s technology to cut transfer times from days to seconds and reduce costs.
- By 2025, Ripple’s network spans hundreds of institutions, positioning it as a key player in banking’s digital transformation, especially as regulatory clarity (after 2023) encourages more banks to explore crypto-enabled payments.
A key driver for banks’ interest is the inefficiency of legacy correspondent banking. In the traditional model, moving money internationally requires multiple intermediaries and pre-funded accounts in foreign currencies, tying up capital. Blockchain platforms like Ripple aim to streamline this by connecting banks directly and providing on-demand liquidity for currency exchange.
Throughout 2020–2025, an increasing number of banks – from large global institutions to mid-size regional lenders – partnered with Ripple to upgrade their cross-border payment systems. In the sections below, we examine Ripple’s core technologies and highlight specific bank use cases across different regions.
Ripple Technologies
Ripple’s suite of technologies provides a blockchain-based alternative to traditional interbank payment networks. RippleNet is the umbrella network that connects banks, money services businesses and other financial institutions on Ripple’s platform. RippleNet evolved from earlier products (known as xCurrent, xRapid, and xVia) that were unified around 2019.
At its core, RippleNet offers a messaging and settlement system somewhat analogous to SWIFT, but running on distributed ledger infrastructure. Participants can send payment instructions and settle funds directly with each other through this network. Transactions are verified by RippleNet’s network of servers, using the XRP Ledger’s consensus mechanism instead of the energy-intensive proof-of-work used by Bitcoin.
One key component of RippleNet is On-Demand Liquidity (ODL), formerly called xRapid. ODL is Ripple’s solution for eliminating the need for pre-funded nostro/vostro accounts in cross-border payments. It uses XRP, Ripple’s native digital asset, as a bridge currency to source liquidity in real time.
For example, if a bank in Country A needs to send €10 million to Country B, it traditionally would have to hold euros in an account in Country B. With ODL, the bank can instead convert its local currency to XRP, send the XRP to a partner in Country B, which instantly converts it to euros for the beneficiary. This all happens in seconds via the XRP Ledger, Ripple’s decentralized blockchain.
By using XRP as a bridge, ODL allows funds to move between currencies without the sending bank or its correspondent having to hold balances in the destination currency. Ripple says this can free up capital and reduce foreign exchange costs by about 60% for institutions.
It’s important to note that XRP itself is an independent cryptocurrency that trades on the open market (and is currently among the top five cryptos by market capitalization). Ripple, the company, owns a significant amount of XRP and has a vested interest in its ecosystem, but the firm’s offerings to banks don’t always require using XRP. In fact, many banks on RippleNet use the network’s fiat-to-fiat messaging and settlement capabilities without touching cryptocurrency.
For larger banks that already have broad correspondent banking relationships, RippleNet’s value has often been in its fast messaging and validation (similar to an upgrade to SWIFT) rather than ODL’s crypto liquidity.
Meanwhile, smaller financial institutions and payment providers have found ODL’s XRP bridge especially useful to access corridors where they lack accounts or face higher costs. By 2021, Ripple reported that a quarter of all RippleNet transactions were flowing through ODL (using XRP) and that ODL volume had grown ninefold year-on-year, reflecting strong demand particularly in remittance corridors.
Underlying all of Ripple’s products is the XRP Ledger (XRPL), a decentralized blockchain network launched in 2012. The XRPL is maintained by a distributed network of validators (including universities, exchanges and institutions) and is designed for fast settlement of transactions (on the order of 3-5 seconds per block).
It uses a unique consensus protocol (often called the Ripple Consensus Algorithm) rather than mining, which allows high throughput with minimal fees (fractions of a penny per transaction).
The XRP Ledger not only handles XRP transfers, but can also tokenize other assets and support features like smart contract-like functionality (through features called “Hooks” and sidechains, in development). Ripple has been working on expanding XRPL’s capabilities to appeal to banks and enterprises – for example, adding more robust security, interoperability with other blockchains (like Ethereum compatibility), and even lending features on the ledger.
The goal, as stated by Ripple executives, is to position the XRP Ledger as a go-to platform for banks and large businesses to move value in the internet of value era.
Another part of Ripple’s offering is compliance and interoperability features. RippleNet transactions carry rich information (payer, payee, fees, rates) and can be compliant with ISO 20022 standards, easing integration with banks’ payment messaging formats.
By 2025, Ripple even expanded into other services like custody of digital assets and tokenization (for example, piloting Central Bank Digital Currency platforms on variations of the XRP Ledger). All these initiatives underscore that Ripple’s strategy for banks is a holistic crypto-enabled payment network, not just a cryptocurrency.
Use Cases in Banks
Below we explore several notable banks that implemented Ripple’s technology from 2020 to 2025. Each case highlights the bank’s profile, the specific Ripple solution used, and the impact on their operations.
Banco Santander (Spain)
Spain’s Banco Santander is one of Europe’s largest banks (assets ~$1.7 trillion) and an early adopter of Ripple’s technology. Santander began collaborating with Ripple in the mid-2010s to improve international payments for its retail and commercial clients. In 2018, it launched One Pay FX, a mobile app for same-day international transfers, in four countries – Spain, the UK, Brazil, and Poland – using Ripple’s distributed ledger technology behind the scenes.
This service allowed Santander customers to send money abroad in seconds with upfront transparency on fees and exchange rates, a sharp contrast to the opaque 3-5 day process of traditional wires. By 2019, Santander’s executive chair Ana Botín revealed in an interview that Ripple’s tech was powering more than 50% of the bank’s foreign exchange payments globally.
“We’re actually covering 50% of all the FX payments that the Santander Group does yearly [with Ripple],” Botín noted, emphasizing that the system was “safe and fully compliant” in every jurisdiction.
After success in Europe, Santander expanded One Pay FX to additional countries and explored new corridors. In 2019, it announced plans to connect Latin American subsidiaries (in countries like Argentina, Chile, and Mexico) to the Ripple-powered network for sending money to the U.S.
Siam Commercial Bank (Thailand)
Siam Commercial Bank (SCB), Thailand’s oldest bank and third-largest by assets (over $100 billion), turned to Ripple to upgrade its remittance services in Southeast Asia. In 2020, SCB launched SCB Easy, an enhanced feature in its mobile banking app that enables instant cross-border transfers for both retail and business customers.
This service was built on RippleNet and aimed at helping Thailand’s large population of migrant workers send money home to neighboring countries. “[SCB Easy] runs on Ripple and allows our customers to send money to family and friends abroad from their phones,” explained Arthit Sriumporn, SCB’s SVP of Commercial Banking.
He noted that transfers which used to take up to five days were now happening in real-time and at lower cost, thanks to RippleNet connecting SCB directly to banking partners around the world.
SCB initially focused the Ripple-powered remittance service on corridors to Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam – countries with many migrant laborers in Thailand – and later expanded to other regions.
The bank integrated with RippleNet partners in destination countries to facilitate these payouts quickly. Notably, SCB’s solution did not require the use of XRP; it was a fiat currency service using Ripple’s infrastructure for speed. However, SCB was open to innovation in the crypto space: in 2019 it had experimented with a trial transfer on Ripple’s network that reportedly settled in under a minute.
By 2020, SCB Easy was offered to 26 countries in 12 currencies for outbound remittances, providing a huge geographic expansion of SCB’s reach.
PNC Bank (United States)
PNC Financial Services, a top-10 U.S. bank (with over $560 billion in assets in 2024), became a Ripple partner to improve cross-border payment services for its corporate clients. PNC was actually the first American bank to go live on RippleNet, as early as 2019.
By integrating RippleNet into its treasury management unit, PNC enabled instant cross-border payments for U.S. commercial customers receiving funds from overseas buyers.
This meant a PNC corporate client could invoice a foreign customer and receive payment in real-time once the payment was sent abroad – dramatically speeding up cash flow and accounts receivable. PNC touted this as transforming how businesses manage their global receivables and working capital, since they no longer had to wait days for funds to clear.
PNC’s implementation used RippleNet’s messaging and settlement capabilities in fiat (akin to the xCurrent solution).
The move gave PNC a unique selling point among American banks. It was featured in industry press for being an early mover: “PNC Treasury Management has gone live with RippleNet, becoming the first US bank to process cross border payments on the blockchain platform.”
The bank’s leadership noted that this innovation positioned PNC to better serve corporate customers in an increasingly global marketplace. PNC’s early success with RippleNet likely influenced other U.S. institutions – but broader adoption in the U.S. was hampered by regulatory uncertainty. Still, PNC proved the concept that even heavily regulated U.S. banks could integrate distributed ledger tech into their payment systems.
By the time U.S. regulatory clarity improved in 2023, Ripple’s team expressed optimism that more American banks would follow PNC’s path and use XRP-based ODL for liquidity.
Saudi British Bank (Saudi Arabia)
The Saudi British Bank (SABB), one of Saudi Arabia’s leading banks (formed via a merger that made it the kingdom’s third-largest lender), turned to Ripple to upgrade its remittance offerings in a country where expat remittances are vital.
In April 2019, SABB launched an instant cross-border transfer service powered by Ripple – becoming the first bank in KSA to do so. By 2020, this Ripple-based service was rolled out to customers for transfers in at least three currencies, including the Indian rupee (INR) and Pakistani rupee (PKR).
These two corridors are significant since India and Pakistan are among the top recipients of remittances from Saudi’s large expat workforce.
SABB’s partnership with Ripple allowed workers in Saudi Arabia to send money home instantly, whereas previously they had to wait days using traditional channels.
SABB’s solution likely utilized RippleNet’s messaging layer and may have also leveraged ODL (though the bank did not publicly specify if XRP was used). Given that SABB partnered with Mastercard as well on this service), it’s possible the bank combined RippleNet’s instant settlement with Mastercard’s Send network for last-mile delivery.
By embracing Ripple, SABB gained a reputation as a technology leader in the Gulf. More than 1.3 million retail customers had access to the new remittance channels.
The impact was significant in a country where remittances exceed $35 billion annually. SABB demonstrated that blockchain could be woven into the banking fabric of the Middle East without regulatory or operational hiccups. Following SABB’s lead, other banks in the Gulf began exploring RippleNet; for instance, the Central Bank of Saudi Arabia (SAMA) had earlier inked a deal with Ripple to run a pilot with local banks.
Qatar National Bank (Qatar)
Qatar National Bank (QNB), the largest bank in Qatar and one of the biggest in the Middle East (with assets around $350 billion), partnered with Ripple in 2021 to enhance its global remittance strategy. QNB announced a pilot of RippleNet with its subsidiary QNB Finansbank in Turkey, aiming for a phased rollout across other countries.
The choice of Turkey as a first corridor was strategic: Turkey has a sizable Qatari expatriate presence and is a hub between Europe and the Middle East.
By using RippleNet, QNB sought to offer near real-time cross-border payments to its customers and eventually link multiple countries through one network.
QNB’s Group Retail GM, Heba Al-Tamimi, said the Ripple partnership was “another FinTech initiative… to enhance product offerings for our customers.” From Ripple’s side, Navin Gupta, Managing Director for South Asia & MENA, noted that the collaboration would scale QNB’s remittance services and expand them into additional markets with RippleNet.
While details of XRP usage were not disclosed, QNB’s news came at a time when many Middle Eastern banks were experimenting with crypto-friendly solutions.
National Bank of Egypt (Egypt)
The National Bank of Egypt (NBE), Egypt’s oldest and largest bank (holding roughly 35% of Egypt’s banking assets), joined RippleNet in 2020 to improve remittances.
Egypt is one of the top remittance destinations globally – in 2020, the country received about $24 billion from Egyptians working abroad.
To tap into this flow, NBE partnered with Ripple and UAE-based LuLu International Exchange to set up a RippleNet corridor between the UAE and Egypt. This link allows Egyptian expatriates in the UAE to send money home through LuLu Exchange, with NBE receiving the funds in Egypt via RippleNet more efficiently than through correspondent banks.
The aim was to deliver “cheaper, quicker and more reliable” cross-border transfers, according to NBE’s announcement.
By early 2021, NBE went live with this Ripple-powered remittance channel. The bank’s Group Head of Financial Institutions, Hesham Elsafty, said NBE is continuously aiming to enhance remittance infrastructure given its importance to the economy.
Joining RippleNet was part of that effort. Notably, NBE’s arrangement did not explicitly involve XRP, as the focus was on the RippleNet network connectivity. However, it set the stage for broader use of blockchain by the Egyptian banking sector. In fact, despite Ripple’s legal woes in the U.S. at the time, NBE doubled down on the partnership – expanding the use of RippleNet to more corridors after the initial UAE-Egypt success.
SBI Remit and Japanese Banks (Japan)
In Japan, Ripple found a strong ally in SBI Holdings – a financial conglomerate that not only invested in Ripple but also spearheaded adoption of Ripple’s tech among Japanese banks. SBI Remit, the remittance arm of SBI, in partnership with Ripple, introduced On-Demand Liquidity (ODL) using XRP in 2021 – marking the first time a Japanese financial institution used crypto as a bridge currency for remittances). SBI Remit’s ODL service initially connected Japan to the Philippines, a major remittance corridor, leveraging Philippines’ crypto exchanges for liquidity. This meant SBI Remit could convert Yen to XRP, send XRP to the Philippines, and cash out in Philippine Pesos almost instantly, enabling near real-time transfers for customers without pre-funded accounts.
By 2023, SBI expanded its ODL-powered remittances to additional countries including Vietnam and Indonesia. In one announcement, SBI Remit said it partnered with Ripple and SBI VC Trade (its crypto exchange affiliate) to route real-time XRP transfers that settle into local fiat payout in those Southeast Asian markets.
Beyond SBI Remit, dozens of Japanese banks joined a RippleNet-powered domestic network called “MoneyTap” (co-launched by SBI and Ripple) for instant bank-to-bank transfers within Japan. While MoneyTap uses Ripple’s ILP (Interledger) and not necessarily XRP, it underscores Ripple’s deep integration in Japan’s banking system.
By 2025, SBI’s CEO Yoshitaka Kitao had famously predicted that XRP would be adopted by a majority of Japanese banks for cross-border payments. Indeed, a large consortium of regional banks under SBI Ripple Asia has been using RippleNet for years to connect with banks in South Korea, Vietnam, and elsewhere.
Closing Thoughts
From 2020 through 2025, Ripple emerged as a crucial partner for banks aiming to modernize their payment infrastructure.
The case studies of Santander, SCB, PNC, SABB, QNB, NBE, and SBI Remit show that banks across regions – from global giants to niche players – have successfully integrated Ripple’s blockchain technology to solve real pain points in cross-border finance. These institutions achieved markedly faster transaction times, improved transparency, and in some cases significant cost savings.
Notably, many did so without necessarily touching cryptocurrency directly; they could use RippleNet’s software within existing regulatory frameworks. Others, in crypto-friendlier jurisdictions, harnessed XRP as a bridge asset to unlock liquidity and new business models (like 24/7 remittances without pre-funded accounts). Ripple’s dual approach – offering fiat-based settlement rails alongside optional crypto liquidity – proved adaptable to different banks’ appetites and local regulations.
However, competition is also mounting.
Traditional payment networks like SWIFT have not stood still – they’ve been upgrading speed and adding their own blockchain-inspired innovations. Other blockchain platforms (Stellar, JPMorgan’s Onyx, Visa’s B2B Connect, etc.) are vying for banks’ attention in cross-border flows. Ripple will need to continue demonstrating real value, possibly through more data on cost savings and new capabilities (like integrating smart contracts or supporting CBDCs on XRPL).