Ripple continues its expansion around the world. This time, the company has signed a partnership with the National Commercial Bank (NCB) in Saudi Arabia. In this way, Ripple enters the Saudi Arabian market, an important remittance market in the region.
The information was announced by Ripple in a blog post on just days ago.
Partnership Brings Ripple Into Important Financial Market
The NBC is one of the largest financial institutions in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East. At the moment, the bank offers services to over 5.4 million customers around the world. Additionally, the financial institution has 400 branches distributed in the country.
Ripple has added NCB to RippleNet, joining a wide variety of financial institutions from all over the world.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has been one of the most important remittance markets in the region. According to data from the World Bank, $308 million dollars were sent into the country and $37 billion dollars from remittances were sent from Saudi Arabia in 2016.
This incredible remittance market is comprised of workers in the country and small to medium enterprises.
Ripple wrote on the matter:
“This massive market is primarily comprised of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia citizens and foreign workers who in 2018 numbered over 10 million. Additionally, both large corporates and small to medium enterprises (SMEs) are responsible for significant payment volume. SMEs in particular have been highlighted by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia government as crucial for future economic growth. Today these groups are served primarily by domestic financial institutions.”
The NCB has been one of the first established banks in the country. Currently, the bank is one of the largest financial institutions in the Middle East. The company has more than 5.4 million customers around the world.
Joining RippleNet, NCB will enjoy faster and more transparent international payment services. At the beginning, the bank will be connected to financial institutions in North America and Asia. In the future, other countries and regions could be added depending on the needs of the institution. NCB will be working with RippleNet by the end of the last quarter in 2018.
Carlos is an international relations’ analyst specializing in cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology. Since 2017, Carlos has written extensively for UseTheBitcoin and other leading cryptocurrency sites; with over 2,000 articles published.
