SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – Another member of Ripple’s global payments network RippleNet, Nium, is boosting its presence all over the world as it has acquired a license from the Bank of Indonesia that enables it to sent remittances to Indonesia through Visa Direct.
Nium, another RippleNet member, is expanding its reach and coverage by partnering with Visa Direct. This move comes after MoneyGram has also partnered with Ripple, leveraging its On-Demand Liquidity product, which was previously called xRapid, along with Ripple’s XRP cryptocurrency.
Nium, which was previously called InstaRem, has joined forces with the payments giant to utilize its Visa Direct system when it comes to doing financial transactions to Indonesia.
Previously, reports have stated that MoneyGram has partnered with Visa, which allowed them to create a system that will be used for the payment solution for Visa Direct. In addition, MoneyGram has also unveiled its new peer-to-peer deposit service using debit cards, which was only used in the US s of late.
Nium first established its services in Singapore, and now, it’s also joining forces with Visa Direct. But before that, the service was able to obtain a license from the Bank of Indonesia that allows it to wire payments in the country. Through the license from the Bank of Indonesia, Nium is now the first-ever Fintech remittance service that can wire money to bank accounts directly using Visa that has expanded its reach in South East Asia.
According to Prajit Nanu, Nium’s CEO, they understand the need of both businesses and individuals to receive or wire money in an instant, especially in the market where that fast payment solutions such as IMPS or FAST still doesn’t exist. Nium’s new partnership allows it to use Visa’s secure network and push payment solution to provide a service to consumers where they can have a faster, more secure, and more convenient way of transferring money.
From a statement from Kunal Chatterjee, Visa’s chief in Singapore, Nium was named as the first-ever Fintech partner from the Fintech Fast Track program of Visa that aims to deliver remittance in real-time using Visa Direct, their push payment solution.
One the other hand, Ripple’s service is expanding too slowly, according to MoneyGram. Based on a recent interview with Brad Garlinghouse, Ripple’s CEO, he referred to a phone call with Alex Holmes, CEO of MoneyGram, who said that the On-Demand Liquidity (ODL) product of Ripple is expanding, but it’s very slow. Holmes also suggested to him that more corridors should be added for the ODL, said Garlinghouse.
At the moment, MoneyGram is sending money to Mexico using Ripple’s XRP cryptocurrency through using the Bitso crypto exchange. Commenting about the seamless process, Holmes said that the ODL had worked wonders, stating that 10% of Mexico’s cash flow made using XRP.
