TORONTO, ON–Cambridge Global Payments has partnered with Ripple to deliver cross-border payment solutions to business-to-business (B2B) customers, using RippleNet, Ripple’s global payments network.
This partnership will be of particular importance to small-midsized enterprises (SMEs). Traditional global payments systems currently involve many intermediaries, which can slow down payments and increase the margin for error. This additional lag-time can impact SMEs’ ability to and grow and scale their business.
New technologies like RippleNet that can reduce lag-time are key to tapping the growing cross-border SME B2B payments market. A recent study from Juniper Research indicated the total value of B2B cross-border payments will jump to 35 trillion USD in 2022 from a COVID-19-related low of USD 27 trillion in 2020, a cumulative growth of nearly 30 percent. The traditional global payments systems involve many intermediaries: which can slow down payments and introduces a higher margin for error.
During the pilot phase of the partnership, deposits to vendors who used preferred banking partner Siam Commercial Bank saw a 99 percent reduction in time to payout with RippleNet compared with other providers: a significant drop from the current average of two days.
Cambridge also reported experiencing a higher level of transparency and certainty throughout the payment process. Cambridge is exploring additional countries and currencies that can benefit from access to RippleNet.
“We entered into the relationship with Ripple because it presented Cambridge a great opportunity to use distributed ledger technology to reduce the amount of time it takes for customers to pay their overseas vendors,” said Mark Frey, president, Cambridge Global Payments. “By expanding this relationship, we broaden our reach into the Asia-Pacific region, while providing customers the rapid payment delivery they expect.”
“Ripple and Cambridge understand the importance of blockchain technology to improve cross-border payments for customers and bringing greater certainty into the delivery of cross-border payments,” said Pat Thelen, vice president, North America managing director at Ripple. “Given today’s realities, adding more technology options is even more critical to ensuring faster payments across the globe.”