Travelex is registered and approved by the Central Bank of Brazil to operate exclusively in foreign exchange. They are utilizing ODL, Ripple’s solution that involves XRP, a digital asset specifically created for payments. This setup enables customers to send money across borders quickly with relatively low transaction costs and without needing to hold pre-funded capital in the destination market.
Ripple emphasizes Brazil as a key market due to its significance as an anchor for business in Latin America, its open stance towards cryptocurrency, and nationwide initiatives promoting fintech innovation. By collaborating with Travelex Bank, Ripple aims to enhance money movement efficiency for the benefit of customers across Brazil.
Brazil has taken a proactive approach in regulating cryptocurrencies by advancing legislation that protects consumers while fostering innovation. This move has led to rapid growth in crypto adoption in Latin America, driven by increasing consumer interest and institutional investment in 2021 according to Ripple.
Overview of the Partnership
Travelex Bank is dedicated to offering a simplified international money access experience through services like remittance, international payments, ATMs, multicurrency prepaid cards, and more. As a fully digital and personal bank, Travelex embraces technology to provide diverse banking solutions.
Travelex’s primary goal is to improve the customer experience by addressing limited capital issues that were hindering their growth. By leveraging ODL from Ripple, they now offer faster settlement and continuous 24/7/365 liquidity access. At launch, Travelex will support payments between Mexico and Brazil, with plans for additional corridors and use cases such as internal treasury management and small to medium-sized enterprise (SME) payments.
Ripple’s Global Initiatives
This summer was significant for Ripple. They assisted Colombia in placing land titles on the blockchain through a project developed by Ripple in partnership with Peersyst Technology. The objective is to permanently store and authenticate property titles using Ripple’s Ledge, its public blockchain, thereby reducing bureaucracy and potentially achieving more equitable land distribution.
Additionally, Ripple helped FOMO Pay, a Singapore-based payments provider, improve cross-border treasury flows with the use of ODL. This solution employs XRP as a bridge between two fiat currencies, enhancing crypto-enabled enterprise technology for better treasury management.