Pakistan's Faysal Bank becomes the country's first bank to adopt Ripple's xCurrent technology

Pakistan’s Faysal Bank Limited has unveiled its partnership with crypto-based firm Ripple, in a bid to become the first Pakistani bank to implement Ripple’s xCurrent technology.

Faysal Bank confirmed via Twitter on Sept. 6 that it has launched a digitally enabled solution for its customers with Ripple. It is one of Pakistan’s biggest bank with a total asset of 545.6 billion Pakistani rupees ($3.5 billion) at the end of March 2019.

“Faysal Bank introduces a digitally enabled solution for its customers through partnering with Ripple. With this partnership, fast, secure and convenient cross border payments can be made,” Yousaf Hussain, P&CEO-FBL, said.

“The agreement will improve FBL home remittance customers’ experience through instant fund transfers with end-to-end tracing and tracking solutions available currently in global and some GCC markets including UAE and Saudi Arabia,” the bank stated as quoted by Ledger Insights.

Notably, Pakistan currently bans cryptocurrency, and the State Bank of Pakistan is still drafting regulations. As such, Faysal Bank made clear that it will not be using Ripple’s XRP.

Besides, Ripple’s xCurrent platform does not use XRP for fund transfer. It is only a blockchain-messaging protocol that rivals with the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT), an internationally recognized bank identification code worldwide.

The new service will be implemented this month, with a target to go live in Q1 2020.

Meanwhile, the payment platform Ripple launched in Southeast Asia MoneyTap has added seven new banks as participants last June, bringing its total number to 20.

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