Santander Launches Blockchain-based Foreign Exchange App

Santander is a name that many people recognize and revere. It is a British bank which is completely owned by the famous Spanish company of the same name. This bank recently became the first British bank to launch an app that would make use of blockchain technology to transfer live international payments around the clock.

The blockchain technology is currently the hot topic of the financial market. It is an open decentralized database that will eliminate the need of a third party in any transaction involving value. This new networking system is creating ripples in the society. The app is being built around the distributed ledger technology. Ripple, a San Francisco-based blockchain startup provided the technology to Santander. The app is being launched at the heels of the lasting partnership between Ripple and Santander.

“At Santander we work hard to ensure our banking is simple, personal and fair and believe new Blockchain technology will play a transformational role in the way we achieve our goals and better serve our customers, adding value by creating more choice and convenience” – Sigga Sigurdardottir, Head of Customer and Innovation at Santander

The app which is called One Pay FX, in its initial phase, is only being made available to Santander’s customers in four countries – Spain, U.K., Brazil and Poland. The company plans to expand this service to additional countries in the coming months. The app was initially rolled out as a staff pilot and only after complete satisfaction, was it launched in the four countries. It has endured rigorous testing and security checks before being approved for customer use.The One Pay FX app is based on Ripple’s xCurrent platform according to Santander. The xCurrent is a distributed network designed for instant international transactions. However this platform does not make use of XRP, the native cryptocurrency derived from Ripple’s blockchain protocol. Santander was one of the prime investors in Ripple’s first round of funding in 2015. They executed this through Innoventures, a financial technology venture capital fund that Santander had set up.

Santander is now a pioneer bank making use of the blockchain technology since no other bank before this has utilized this new method. Most banks are skeptic about using Ripple’s digital currency XRP but despite that Ripple has recently struck deals with multiple banks and financial institutions.

Foreign transactions will now became extremely hassle free and can be done around the clock. The chances of fraud are greatly reduced due to this technology’s unique method of storing information.