Ripple Plans New ODL Payment Corridors For Asia, Middle East & Africa

A new interview in the Ripple news shows Marcus Treacher, the Senior Vice President of Customer Success at the company, speaking about a new expansion. As it stands, Ripple plans new ODL payment corridors in Asia-Pacific, the Middle East, and Africa.

The company will use the on-demand liquidity (ODL) payment service – formerly known as xRapid – and will process cross-border payments quickly and cost-effectively. Under this framework, XRP will act as a bridge currency between two fiat currencies. This will eliminate the need for pre-financing through a nostro account, and eliminates the risks associated with currency price fluctuations.

Treacher explained that the expansion of ODL is to be further advanced by the end of 2020. In the interview, said:

“We have established On Demand Liquidity corridors into Mexico, the Philippines, Australia and Europe, and we’re hoping to further this expansion by opening corridors to APAC and EMEA this year.”

The Senior Vice President of Customer Success at Ripple also stressed the need to support companies as well as individuals who are severely restricted by COVID-19 and have no means of sending money home to their families without the high fees and long transfer times.

In response, Ripple plans new ODL payment corridors after it partnered with industry leaders to reduce/eliminate transaction fees during the pandemic. The company said:

“In response, we’ve partnered with global financial institutions such as Azimo, TransferGo and Siam Commercial Bank to reduce or waive transaction fees during the pandemic.”

Treacher also criticized the lack of initiative by major financial institutions when it comes to opening up to the innovations of the blockchain market. Even though not all projects are delivering promising results in the blockchain news, he said that it was about time for banks to move to the “next level of development” and start focusing on giving customers modern services such as fast and cheap transfers all over the world.

He summed up that the average transaction costs of $14 for a global transfer are very high for a $200 transfer, and that smart systems such as RippleNet bring a lot of benefits for customers at banks, stating:

“Innovation could be at the forefront of product development, combining the established reach and influence of traditional banks with the industry-leading tech and new talent at the disposal of fintechs.”