Santander, the large scale Spanish bank and one of Ripple’s major partners, is still hesitant to adopt XRP as part of its international payment network, One Pay FX. The company reasoned that the token “was not actively traded in enough markets” to support the company’s banking needs.
During an interview with the Financial Times, Cedric Menager, chief executive officer of One Pay FX, explained that Santander wants to provide the “best [user experience] as quickly as possible.” He also said that the bank hopes to “operate in as many currencies and corridors as possible from the beginning.”
Ripple clarified that Santander is still using some of the company’s software for its cross-border payment solution, and noted that they consider the Spanish bank to be “one of our largest and most important customers”.
In February, Ripple’s CEO Brad Garlinghouse hinted that banks would soon be less wary of working with digital assets. He stated that once regulators – referring to U.S. watch dogs – understand “you’re not circumventing regulatory frameworks, they get very comfortable very quickly.”
Garlinghouse also claimed that Ripple was used for $54 million in cash flows to Mexico in January. This figure represents 7.5% of the total flow of U.S. dollars to Mexican pesos.
Cointelegraph recently reported that Sygnum Bank, the first crypto bank licensed by FINMA, will allow its users to invest in Ripple’s XRP token via their e-banking portal.