As we have been highlighting now for quite some time via research and postings, faster (and real-time) payments are key payments initiatives and likely to reach a global tipping point within a ‘coupla three’ years, perhaps even more quickly on the consumer side versus B2B. One of the high interest areas is reaching a real-time environment for cross-border payments. There are several initiatives underway, including in the Nordic region and ASEAN.
The referenced posting here is on ZyCrypto and discusses a collaboration between Ripple and DeeMoney, a Thailand-based money transfer service. The partnership allows Thai nationals working in various countries to send money back to Thailand using the RippleNet cross border network.
‘With this partnership, DeeMoney will be using RippleNet to provide low-cost and superfast international payments to people in Thailand…More than one million Thais working abroad are now able to transfer money back home via payment corridors between Thailand and South Korea, Indonesia, Singapore, Israel, the Middle East, and the Gulf regions, for the first phase of the implementation.’
The article indicates that a second phase will involve outbound payments from Thailand as well. One thing we should point out is that the article’s title suggests real-time payments are available, which is only partially true. Based on the details, it seems that clearing is in real-time but settlement is ‘same day’, subject to timing since same day net settlement systems have limited processing windows.
‘For the second phase, DeeMoney will utilize RippleNet for outbound transfers from Thailand after they identify the most ideal partners in the respective destination countries…Per the Ripple announcement, DeeMoney offers same-day settlement to all Thai bank accounts.’
The announcement indicates that DeeMoney is the first non-bank in Thailand to leverage RippleNet. So, the cross-border world continues to make incremental progress towards a faster and better world.
Overview by Steve Murphy, Director, Commercial and Enterprise Payments Advisory Service at Mercator Advisory Group