XRP News: MoneyMatch Completes First Malaysian Cross-Border Blockchain Payment on RippleNet

MoneyMatch, a Kuala Lumpur-based fintech startup, recently made history by becoming the first company responsible for a cross-border payment recorded on the blockchain. The company worked in conjunction with San Francisco cryptocurrency startup Ripple to integrate RippleNet with the company’s platform.

First For Malaysia

Specifically, MoneyMatch helped a retail user convert Malaysian Ringgit (MYR) to Euro (EUR), using RippleNet. The transaction was completed within several hours, and the money was sent from Malaysia to Spain.

MoneyMatch chief executive took pride in the transaction, elaborating that it it was “clear evidence that a Fintech company made wholly in Malaysia by young Malaysians is capable of integrating in the Ripple blockchain and performing a live legitimate international money transfer.”

After this historic transaction, MoneyMatch proceeded to process several cross-border payments on the blockchain to countries such as Latvia, Ireland, and Germany.

The transaction with MoneyMatch is the successful culmination of Ripple’s original announcement in April that it had signed on 5 international xVIA customers, which included various payment providers across Europe and Asia.

Ripple advertises xVIA as a regulated and secure way to send international payments in real-time.

Moneymatch prides itself on being trusted by regulators, especially since it is approved by Bank Negara Malaysia, which is Malaysia’s central bank. As a result, it has been interested in using blockchain technology to process global payments in a cheaper and faster manner than traditional banks.

It has also signed on to partner with Stellar, which is widely considered as Ripple’s main competitor when it comes to the global payment space.

MoneyMatch has grown tremendously over the years, expanding from a team of 3 co-founders to a full staff of 28 since its inception a year ago in October 2017. It has already transacted over 200 million MYR and has a registered user base of over 10,000 customers.

The founder of Coinhako, a cryptocurrency exchange for customers based in Malaysia and Singapore, recently commented on the bullish price activity on their exchange, claiming that the demand in Malaysia is still there despite the fact that the entire cryptocurrency market has been bearish this year.

Blockchain in the Global Payments Sector

Ripple has been exploring the global payments sector and the potential for XRP to disrupt the industry for some time now. In fact, many well-regarded financial institutions have been testing Ripple’s technology for some time now.

Due to the fact that banks are heavily regulated, Ripple then decided to turn to globally-known payment transfer companies such as MoneyGram and Western Union. The fact that XRP transactions can be settled in seconds and at a lower cost has made it an attractive option for all sorts of financial institutions.

Ripple has been ramping up its presence in this sector, launching xRapid several weeks ago with some substantial partners in the cryptocurrency space. The company even signed on PNC bank, a top 10 U.S. bank, opening up the convenience of real-time cross border payments to more than 8 million PNC customers.