• Switzerland has taken a step further in embracing crypto with the recent expansion of the instant payment scheme as other banks integrate XRP into their trading platforms. 

• According to reports, 28% of banks in Switzerland allow or are planning to allow customers to invest in crypto. 

According to an announcement by the Swiss National Bank (SNB) and financial infrastructure operator SIX Interbank Clearing Ltd, Switzerland has reached an advanced phase in its effort to leverage the power of instant payment schemes to go cashless. 

In the SNB report reviewed by Crypto News Flash, about 60 financial institutions within the country currently can process and receive payment instantly (within 10 seconds). Interestingly, this makes up about 95% of the Swiss retail payment transactions. 

The report further discloses that the first institution has launched its retail offering with several others expected to join in the coming months. With this, experts believe that the financial economy could be boosted since private individuals and companies could perform account-to-account transactions around the clock. 

This offers significant advantages for individuals, companies and commercial banks. Thanks to shorter settlement chains, risks are reduced and funds received are available immediately. For companies and commercial banks, instant payments expand opportunities for automating processes and linking with other services.

Commenting on this, SNB and SIX disclosed that instant payment could be widely established in Switzerland in the medium term and could be a model for future related innovations. 

The technical framework for this new type of payment was put in place with the successful go-live of the new generation of the central Swiss payment system in November 2023. This market launch represents a further important milestone and reflects the collective stakeholder commitment to the future of cashless payments in Switzerland. 

Could XRP be Considered for this Innovation

With the country expected to fully redefine its financial system with the perfect establishment of an instant payment scheme, experts believe that XRP could be integrated in the future. Fortunately, this possibility is not far-fetched as a Swiss bank fully owned by the government, PostFinance, recently announced the addition of Solana (SOL) and Ripple (XRP) to its trading platform. 

According to reports, XRP could get more integration in the future, with 28% of Swiss banks currently allowing clients or planning to enable them to invest in crypto. In addition to PostFinance, the cantonal banks of Zug, St Gallen, and Lucerne have all introduced their crypto offerings. 

PostFinance’s history in the crypto industry could be traced beyond 2023, when it partnered with Sygnum Bank to regulate crypto services. The basis of the collaboration was to allow customers to buy, sell, and store cryptos like Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and now XRP. 

Last year, we reported that Swiss banking giant BBVA had expanded its partnership with Ripple-owned Metaco to enable a robust engagement in crypto. Priding itself as the first tier 1 bank in the Eurozone to combine crypto custodial and trading services alongside traditional assets, BBVA is expected to lead the way for full XRP integration. 

Currently, XRP is being set up to lead the new global financial era, which is marked by its recent integration with MasterCard, while Ripple is working to boost Real-World Asset (RWA) tokenization worldwide. 

At press time, XRP traded at $0.59 after declining by 0.12% in the last 24 hours. 

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