This week Ripple announced that Malaysia’s Mobile Money and Bangladesh’s bKash mobile wallet are connected via RippleNet for payments. RippleNet is the payment messaging service that competes with SWIFT and the deal does not use XRP. Ripple was recently sued by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over claims that XRP is a security.
“bKash is happy to have partnered with Ripple in collaboration with Mutual Trust Bank of Bangladesh to deliver a cost effective, fast, transparent and reliable remittance sending experience to more than 10 million non-resident Bangladeshis all over the world,” said Kamal Quadir, CEO of bKash. “This partnership will bring great convenience to both the recipients and senders, and contribute further to our national economy by encouraging inward foreign remittance flow through legal channels.”
More than 220,000 Bangladeshi workers remit money home from Malaysia, according to 2017 statistics. World Bank figures show that the current cost of sending money from Malaysia to Bangladesh ranges from 1.6% (Western Union) to a whopping 14.82%, with an average of 3.97%.
Four months ago, bKash signed another blockchain deal for the Bangladesh – Malaysia payment corridor. In that case, it was to send remittances from Malaysian fintech Valyou, using Standard Chartered Bank and powered by technology from Ant Group, the owner of AliPay.
bKash is backed by the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Ant Group, amongst others.
