Ripple Enables Real-Time Payments Into China Via LianLian

Soon after Ripple announced a collaboration with MoneyGram, the blockchain firm revealed yet another partnership, this time in China.

Reports in Blockchain News on Wednesday (Feb. 7) said Ripple announced a partnership with LianLian International, a Hong Kong-based, cross-border payments company, that plans to use Ripple’s xCurrent enterprise blockchain tool to process real-time payments coming into China.

The deal sees LianLian able to process payments made using RippleNet, Ripple’s blockchain network that, as of last October, incorporates more than 100 financial institutions and companies.

“Cross-border payments related to China’s eCommerce market reached $1.07 trillion in 2017,” said Ripple Director of Joint Venture Partnership Emi Yoshikawa in a statement. “There is a huge opportunity to make these payments quicker and more cost-efficient. With RippleNet, LianLian will now be able to provide merchants and consumers with on-demand payments, which they weren’t able to [do] before. We look forward to connecting other RippleNet members to LianLian.”

LianLian can accept invoice and eCommerce payments from financial institutions using RippleNet and then disburse those funds to Chinese payees, the company explained.

“LianLian International is a leader in the payout experience both into and out of China, as evidenced by the large number of our merchants and partners,” said LianLian International Chairman of the Board Arthur Zhu. “With RippleNet, we will further enhance that experience and increase our market share by offering customers instant, blockchain-powered payments across 19 currencies that we currently support.”

Hong Kong is one of the world’s most active markets when it comes to using blockchain technology for cross-border payments. Last year, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) announced a collaboration with the Monetary Authority of Singapore to link the two markets via distributed ledger technology (DLT) and develop an interface using blockchain to facilitate cross-border payments for B2B trade between the two markets.

“This interface is likely to be the first of its kind in the world in the application of DLT in solving the century-old problem arising from the inefficiency of the paper-based trade finance system,” said HKMA Head Norman Chan at a conference, according to reports last October.