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- Mercury FX can expand its audience through the use of Ripple, as the use of Ripple’s software can reduce costs and increase the speed of transactions.
- The company uses On-Demand Liquidity (ODL) and XRP as the bridge currency between different Fiat currencies.
Ripple provides payment solutions for international companies that want to process cross-border payments quickly, securely and cost-effectively. In the case of cross-border transactions, traditional bank transfers often incur disproportionately high fees, which make the work of a payment service provider unprofitable.
Mercury FX has piloted ODL and is very pleased with the results. This allows the company to enter new markets that previously could not be reached for cost reasons.
Mercury FX can expand its target group through the use of ODL
Mercury FX describes that long turnaround times and high fees have prevented the company from making small transfers and reaching a large customer base. To overcome this limitation, Mercury FX joined RippleNet to use ODL payment technology.
This has greatly improved both their own services and their reach. Alastair Constance explains that Ripple can process payments 100 times faster than traditional financial institutions:
Our sweet spot was high-value transactions. But to really grow we wanted to target anyone who needs cross-border payments. Disruptive technology like blockchain does not come along too often. When we discovered that Ripple could help us settle payments 100 times faster and at a fraction of the cost, it was a game-changing moment.
Mecury FX piloted ODL using the digital asset XRP as a bridge between the Mexican peso and the US dollar. Donations were made to an orphanage in Mexico and the results evaluated. So far, the referral process has been slow and costly. A typical transfer from the UK to Mexico took up to three days and cost about $50.
Constance states that the use of ODL has reduced the price from USD 50 to USD 2 and the transactions are completed within minutes. Mercury FX has been working with a British company that imports Mexican food and receives its orders three days earlier through Ripple’s payment software since the switch to ODL, as all invoices can be paid almost in real time.
The CEO also reports that Ripple enables them to enter inaccessible markets and work economically in them:
Individuals can buy houses or send money home to their families quicker. Ripple and RippleNet have allowed us to open up previously inaccessible markets so that our clients can trade freely at optimized speeds and costs.
The company also uses ODL as an alternative to pre-financing to provide cost-effective payment services to the Philippines. Mercury FX will open a new office in Dubai to provide payment services to Filipino migrants currently working in the United Arab Emirates. The main aim is to support migrant workers who send money home to their families.
Xpring invests in Audigent
Meanwhile, Ripple venture capital firm Xpring has invested in Audigent, the leading data agency. The investment round was led by Ripple’s joint venture Xpring, Ithaca Holdings and Raised In Space.
Audigent describes itself as the next generation data management platform that puts content control and visibility back into the hands of publishers and advertisers. So far, $14.5 million of capital has been raised for the further development of the project.
This means that Ripple continues to expand, but the regulatory efforts of the American authorities are still at a standstill. Chris Larsen recently criticized that more and more companies could migrate if there was no movement in this sector. In the long term, the USA could lose its pioneering role to China if the conditions in the USA are not improved.
