The most high-profile user of Ripple’s XRP remittance platform, MoneyGram, just launched a new instant settlement service that utilizes Visa’s payment rails to move money.
Users of FastSend, MoneyGram’s real-time remittance product, can send money by simply providing the recipient’s name and phone number.
According to a press release, the service leverages Visa Direct to facilitate the “the industry’s fastest transaction times and the most seamless money transfer user experience.”
After the money is sent, recipients get a text notifying them that they have available funds. They can then log in to the MoneyGram app and add their debit card to instantly claim the money.
FastSend charges a $1.99 fee with a $10,000 maximum per transaction. The service is currently available for transfers in the US and remittances from the US to Spain. The company plans to add more markets this year.
Ripple has invested a total of $50 million in MoneyGram, which now leverages XRP to move 10% of its average daily volume between the US and Mexico.
According to MoneyGram CEO Alexander Holmes, optimizing instant XRP remittances is one of the company’s long-term key goals as Ripple works to expand the product to more regions around the world.
“We’re using Ripple’s cryptocurrency for now, XRP, as a medium of exchange to move from dollars to pesos. And XRP sits in the middle. What the value of all that becomes longer term, I think, is interesting.
But what I will say is that to the extent that we can perfect the model, that we can truly facilitate instant flow of funds, instant money movement with the data and allow a customer in county A to get money into country B seamlessly and efficiently, I think it’s what everyone is demanding.”
Holmes says the new product collaboration with Visa makes moving money as easy as sending a text message. He adds,
“FastSend builds on the success of our extremely popular mobile app and will further MoneyGram’s leading position in the evolution of digital P2P payments.”
Featured Image: Shutterstock/IM_VISUALS