Payment network Ripple Labs just snagged its second and third bank partnership in its quest to create frictionless global payments. CBW Bank, out of Kansas, and Cross River Bank in New Jersey, both say they will use Ripple to make global money transfers and payments. In May Ripple announced its first bank partnership with Fidor Bank in Germany. What’s significant about the adoption of Ripple’s payment protocol is that it allows for same day transfers with better exchange rates, and acts as a challenge to correspondent banking.
Ripple Labs has sealed new partnerships that will bring its Ripple protocol to two US banks. According to the company’s 24th September announcement, Kansas-based CBW Bank and Cross River Bank, located in New Jersey, will be the first American banks to adopt Ripple’s open-source distributed transaction infrastructure. The news comes several months after Ripple inked its first deal with the banking sector, when German bank Fidor became the first institution of its kind to integrate the Ripple protocol. Like Fidor, CBW Bank and Cross River Bank will now be able to tap Ripple’s low-cost currency transfer and remittance capabilities. According to Ripple CEO Chris Larsen, the perception that banks are fighting against open-source technologies like the Ripple or bitcoin protocols isn’t accurate. Rather, he said, these institutions recognize the promise, but are naturally conservative when it comes to strategic change.