U.S. Bank announced a few hours ago that it has hired Derek White, a former employee at BBVA, one of Ripple’s leading partners. The hiring of White could see US Bank adopt Ripple technologies and XRP for cross-border transactions.
White to Lead US Bank’s Digital Team
On April 15, US Bank revealed that it had hired Derek White to lead its new combined digital team. White is experienced in the digital space and to that end he will be in charge of innovation, development, digital products, agile initiatives, and omni-channel for the US Bank.
“U.S. Bank announced today that the company has hired veteran digital leader and innovator, Derek White, as chief digital officer responsible for leading the company’s newly combined digital team. White will report to U.S. Bank chairman, president and CEO Andy Cecere and be a member of the company’s Managing Committee.”
The global finance space is under a necessary transformation, and U.S. Bank is bringing in someone who championed such causes in two global banks. White is a former employee of Spain’s BBVA, where he was in charge of designing, creating, and releasing digital products and services.
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Before BBVA, he worked at Barclays for more than a decade. There, he held several leadership positions, including the head of the digital team and many more. The CEO of US Bank Andy Cecere expressed excitement at this latest development. While the bank praised White for his role in digital developments in the banking sector, they strongly believe that his team would make it easier for their customers to carry out operations.
“Derek is an outstanding leader with a proven global track record as a digital innovator in the banking industry. He and his team will be instrumental in deepening our commitment to provide our retail and institutional customers with the capabilities that make it easier and better to bank with U.S. Bank”
White’s Appointment A Good Thing for Ripple
The selection of White by US Bank is good news for Ripple and XRP. As it is, Ripple has been releasing solutions that make cross-border remittance easy for banks and other financial institutions across the globe.
And good news is that White played a crucial part in the partnership between BBVA and Ripple two years ago. In 2017, BBVA completed their first real-life implementation of an international money transaction using Ripple’s technology.
Then, Global Head of Strategic Accounts at Ripple, Marcus Treacher said:
“While others are content to merely experiment with blockchain, BBVA is working with us to move real money and in doing so, will establish the future new level of service for their customers.
The transaction was carried out on Ripple’s Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT), allowing the bank to transfer funds from Spain to Mexico within seconds. White was heading the BBVA technical team at the time, and his relationship with Ripple could see him adopt the technologies at US Bank.
Over the past few years, Ripple had rolled out a few payment solutions including RippleNet, xRapid, xCurrent, and xVia. xCurrent is the enterprise solution by Ripple that allows banks to carry out cross-border payments with end-to-end tracking instantly. It has become a favorite amongst banks due to the fast transaction times and the legal clarity involved in every transfer.
Another popular Ripple product is xRapid which debuted last year. The product also makes it possible for financial companies to carry out cross-border transactions faster and cheaper. Another option is xVia which “is for corporates, payment providers and banks who want to send payments across various networks using a standard interface” that seems to be gaining more customers. Its ability to reduce transaction fees and boost transfer speed are the reasons why xVia has become popular.
Ripple’s primary mission is to become the number one remittance platform in the world. While it aims to help banks and financial institutions carry out faster and cheaper transactions, it is doing so by using blockchain technology.
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The adoption of Ripple’s technologies could also lead to the massive adoption of XRP, the native coin of the blockchain. Although XRP is not compulsory. It remains an option, and some banks are already making use of this liquidity tool, saving millions.
Therefore, the appointment of White by US Banks could see Ripple adoption in the bank very soon. If that happens, Ripple and XRP will experience more adoption in the United States.
