US blockchain technology company Ripple linked up with Pyypl, a Middle East FinTech, to introduce RippleNet’s first on-demand liquidity solution for cross-border payments between the Middle East and the Philippines.
The ODL solution enables RippleNet, a network of banks and money services businesses that employ solutions developed by Ripple, to use the XRP digital currency as a bridge between two fiat currencies, allowing them to transfer funds economically and instantly across jurisdictions.
This will eliminate the need for costly pre-funded destination accounts, the two companies said on Tuesday.
“The Middle East and North Africa continues to be a critical region for Ripple thanks to … a welcoming regulatory environment and a regional focus on the needed improvements in the current financial system,” said Brooks Entwistle, managing director of RippleNet in the Asia-Pacific and Mena regions.
“The establishment of yet another first-to-market ODL launch demonstrates that digital assets will play a central role in the future of global payments.”
The establishment of yet another first-to-market ODL launch demonstrates that digital assets will play a central role in the future of global payments
Brooks Entwistle,
managing director of RippleNet in the Asia-Pacific and Mena regions
The Middle East contains two of the world’s three largest remittance corridors, with the UAE and Saudi Arabia handling a combined $78 billion ($286.5bn) in payments in 2020, according to the World Bank.
The Mena region also experienced a rapid transition to digital in the last year, making it a market that is primed for FinTech innovation.
Outward personal remittances from the UAE dropped by an annual 5 per cent – or Dh8.3bn – in 2020, according to the UAE Central Bank’s annual report.
Transfers through exchange houses fell by Dh18.1bn, or 13.8 per cent, but outward remittances through banks increased by Dh9.8bn, or 28.8 per cent, the regulator said.
Ripple uses cryptocurrencies to tackle challenges associated with cross-border payments.
By using ODL, financial institutions and small and medium enterprises can tap into previously trapped, pre-funded capital to grow their business, the companies said.
Founded in 2012, Ripple’s blockchain technology is currently used by hundreds of financial institutions across more than 55 countries.
“We are excited to be Ripple’s first partner of choice to bring the deployment of ODL to the Middle East. This enables our users to deliver remittances instantly and cost-effectively,” said Antti Arponen, co-founder and chief executive of Pyypl.
“We have also reduced our inefficient use of capital through ODL and look forward to an exciting roll-out of its capabilities across the region.”
Pyypl, which is licensed by the Abu Dhabi Global Market’s Financial Services Regulatory Authority, started with ODL services in the Philippines.
It plans to expand to new markets and explore additional use cases.
The digital currency XRP will not be held in the UAE and transactions will not involve UAE dirhams as part of the payment flow, the companies said.
In the Asia-Pacific region, Ripple announced its first-to-market ODL corridor in Japan in partnership with SBI Remit and acquired a 40 per cent stake in cross-border payments company Tranglo in Malaysia to expand the availability of its ODL service, the companies said.
The US Securities and Exchange Commission sued Ripple and two of its executives in December for allegedly misleading XRP investors.
The company and its executives, who are also significant security holders, were accused of raising more than $1.3bn through an unregistered, ongoing digital asset securities offering.
Pyypl enables digital payments for the one billion smartphone users in the Middle East and Africa who are financially underserved.
Professional network LinkedIn ranked it among the UAE’s top 10 start-ups to work for in 2021.
WHAT IS GRAPHENE?
It was discovered in 2004, when Russian-born Manchester scientists Andrei Geim and Kostya Novoselov were experimenting with sticky tape and graphite, the material used as lead in pencils.
Placing the tape on the graphite and peeling it, they managed to rip off thin flakes of carbon. In the beginning they got flakes consisting of many layers of graphene. But when they repeated the process many times, the flakes got thinner.
By separating the graphite fragments repeatedly, they managed to create flakes that were just one atom thick. Their experiment led to graphene being isolated for the very first time.
In 2010, Geim and Novoselov were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics.
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Business Insights
- As per the document, there are six filing options, including choosing to report on a realisation basis and transitional rules for pre-tax period gains or losses.
- SMEs with revenue below Dh3 million per annum can opt for transitional relief until 2026, treating them as having no taxable income.
- Larger entities have specific provisions for asset and liability movements, business restructuring, and handling foreign permanent establishments.
Founders: Ines Mena, Claudia Ribas, Simona Agolini, Nourhan Hassan and Therese Hundt
Date started: January 2017, app launched November 2017
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Private/Retail/Leisure
Number of Employees: 18 employees, including full-time and flexible workers
Funding stage and size: Seed round completed Q4 2019 - $1m raised
Funders: Oman Technology Fund, 500 Startups, Vision Ventures, Seedstars, Mindshift Capital, Delta Partners Ventures, with support from the OQAL Angel Investor Network and UAE Business Angels
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Why your domicile status is important
Your UK residence status is assessed using the statutory residence test. While your residence status – ie where you live - is assessed every year, your domicile status is assessed over your lifetime.
Your domicile of origin generally comes from your parents and if your parents were not married, then it is decided by your father. Your domicile is generally the country your father considered his permanent home when you were born.
UK residents who have their permanent home ("domicile") outside the UK may not have to pay UK tax on foreign income. For example, they do not pay tax on foreign income or gains if they are less than £2,000 in the tax year and do not transfer that gain to a UK bank account.
A UK-domiciled person, however, is liable for UK tax on their worldwide income and gains when they are resident in the UK.
WORLD RECORD FEES FOR GOALKEEPERS
1) Kepa Arrizabalaga, Athletic Bilbao to Chelsea (£72m)
2) Alisson, Roma to Liverpool (£67m)
3) Ederson, Benfica to Manchester City (£35m)
4) Gianluigi Buffon, Parma to Juventus (£33m)
5) Angelo Peruzzi, Inter Milan to Lazio (£15.7m
MATCH INFO
Champions League quarter-final, first leg
Tottenham Hotspur v Manchester City, Tuesday, 11pm (UAE)
Matches can be watched on BeIN Sports
