Banco Santander the Spanish banking giant’s “One Pay FX” went live in April 2018. Powered by Ripple’s xCurrent, the mobile app allows the banks customers near instant international cash payments. The app has now hit a new milestone. Santander UK customers with a debit card will benefit from the now live UK–Poland payments corridor.
The bank’s UK branch has released the version 1.3.1 of the “OnePay FX” app, which operates in the new European corridor. Through it, the Santander UK customers can send Zloty (PLN) payment to their Polish recipients. The news was confirmed by Marcus Treacher, the Ripple Customer Success Senior Vice President:
“Santander UK’s One Pay FX app now supports payments to Poland from the UK – no fees, best ex rate, smooth payment experience.”
The bank’s UK customers can now make affordable GBP payments of up to £10,000 a day. This cash can be sent to 19 Eurozone nations, to Poland as Zloty or as USD to the US. Reports further state that customers will pay minimums in fees, starting with zero transaction fees perhaps as a promotional fee. This has led to the speculation that maybe the Santander app is also getting xRapid onboard for fast and cheap transfers.
The UK–Poland Corridor
At its inception, the One-Pay FX platform’s services were only available to the UK, Brazil, Poland, and Spain customers. However, during its 2019 Investor Day in April, the bank announced that it was in the process of expanding the app’s products. The announcement mentioned their newest service, “Pago FX,” an international payments platform that would be open to non-Santander customers. The new platform once operational, will be launched in Germany, the UK, and Poland.
The One Pay FX app has revolutionized the international payments process for Santander customers. First, customers can specify the exact amount they want their beneficiaries to receive in their native currency. The app is also moving these payments periods from same day to instant transfers.
Ana Botín, the banks Executive Chairman says:
“One Pay FX uses blockchain-based technology to provide a fast, secure and straightforward way to transfer money internationally – offering value, transparency, and the trust and service customers expect from a bank like Santander.”
OnePay FX Could Be Better on xRapid
Ripple’s xCurrent solution allows an end to end tracking of cross border payments. The platform does not use XRP, Ripple’s token, unlike xRapid. In 2018, Ripple went into partnership with three crypto exchanges to vamp up the startup’s payments ecosystem. Bittrex from the US, Coins. Ph from the Philippines and Mexico’s Bitso now enable the xRapid’s payments between XRP and the Mexican and Philippine Pesos and USD.
Ripple has had a good year as far as the mass adoption of its products is concerned. Ripple holders are however getting angered by the prevailing low XRP prices. The token is currently down by a large percentage, trading at the 30 cents mark. In its defense, all altcoins prices are plunging as Bitcoin spiral down towards $9,500.
