Euro Exim Bank Taps Ripple's xRapid for Cross-Border Settlements

Euro Exim Bank, a London-based bank primarily focused on providing financial services for export and import companies, will become the first bank to publicly announce it is using the XRP cryptocurrency for cross-border payments.

Ripple announced Tuesday that Euro Exim Bank, alongside payment startups JNFX, SendFriend, Transpaygo and FTCS, would be leveraging XRP for cross-border transactions.

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse said the company is now signing two-three customers per week, and last year saw a 350 percent increase in customers sending live payments.

"We're beginning to see more customers flip the switch and leverage XRP for on-demand liquidity," he added in a statement.

Euro Exim Bank director Kaushik Punjani noted that his bank's customers have traditionally been restricted from settling transactions quickly and cost efficiently.

"Working collaboratively with Ripple and selected counterparts, we have designed, tested and are implementing both xCurrent and xRapid in record time, and we look forward to the benefits these will bring our customers."

David Lighton, CEO and co-founder of remittance service SendFriend, similarly touted the focus on cheap cross-border payments as the main benefit of using xRapid.

"A distributed ledger-based solution, leveraging Ripple's XRP asset allows us to settle transactions in real time, with lower capital requirements and lower costs. We're proud to partner with Ripple to offer our customers cheaper, faster, payments to the developing world," he told CoinDesk.

A number of other companies have already begun using xRapid, which uses the XRP cryptocurrency, for international payments, including MercuryFX, Cuallix and Catalyst Corporate Credit Union.

While the three firms provide financial services, none possess a banking license like Euro Exim does.