Santander and Ripple to Process World’s First Blockchain Bank Transfer at Scale

In collaboration with Ripple, Santander, a Spanish owned, Boston based Financial institution, will launch an app to facilitate cross-boarder payment using Blockchain technology, which will create the first large scale payments of their kind through a major Bank. The app will be available in Spain, Brazil, UK and Poland.

What’s the big deal?

The company founded in 2012 with the goal of attaining partnerships with major financial institutions to bring Blockchain technology to replace the antiquated transfer practices in place and facilitate seamless cross-boarder payments. The company has accumulated over 100 customers for their services, but not one has yet been a major bank to fulfill this goal.

They have been a major investor in Ripple since 2015, but it is uncertain how long this partnership has existed for development of the new payment App. The group has been explicit with the territory of its availability, but the precise launch date has not been revealed. They promise payment settlements within 24 hours.

With the current methods in place they are an inefficient processes that leave the consumer in the dark regarding both fees and processing time. The value of the transaction is cut back as it switches hands in the tangled mesh that has become of international banking relationships.

This payment app displays the use of a Permissioned Blockchain, which is closed to the private parties involved, unlike that of Bitcoin or Ethereum.

Overall, Blockchain technology and its variants have a much broader scope than Bitcoin, Ripple or Banking and currencies. As major institutions begin to experiment with the technology, and governments research the use cases, further applications will spill into other fields.