A new study by payments firm Ripple says that financial institutions could save astronomical amounts of money by switching their systems over to blockchain-based rails.
The study, which was conducted by Ripple in collaboration with US Faster Payments Council, polled 300 leaders working in the payments industry across 45 countries.
The poll reveals that 97% of the respondents believe that blockchain technology and cryptocurrency will have a significant or very significant role in enabling faster payments within the next three years.
The report says that using crypto assets on blockchains is about 80% cheaper than traditional financial rails. The nascent technology is also faster and more transparent, with more information in regard to the process.
Institutions could save roughly $10 billion by 2030 by simply using blockchain technology for their systems, according to the report.
“For respondents, blockchain and crypto technology holds particular promise with respect to transforming cross-border payments. Juniper Research supports this notion, pointing to blockchain’s potential to significantly increase savings for financial institutions conducting cross-border transactions – an estimated $10 billion by 2030 thanks to fast, reliable and transparent payments settlement. Observers shouldn’t underestimate the transformative opportunity here: global cross-border payment flows are expected to reach $156 trillion – driven by a 5% compound annual growth rate.”
Ripple’s report also says that survey respondents, particularly in the Middle East and Africa, are optimistic about the adoption of crypto-based payments systems for merchants.
“Respondents see additional crypto-enabled payments use cases, with over 50% of surveyed leaders believing that most merchants will accept crypto payments within one to three years. Middle East and African leaders appear particularly bullish: 27% believe that they’ll cross this threshold within the next year. Optimism in these markets may stem from a growing appetite for broader financial access and inclusion, including other crypto-enabled payment solutions like mobile payments and central bank digital currencies (CBDCs).”
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