Top US bank PNC joins Ripple’s blockchain network RippleNet

In a major boost to the San Francisco-based fintech company, PNC Bank, the 9th largest bank in the United States by assets, has joined Ripple’s enterprise blockchain network RippleNet. With over $380 billion in assets, PNC Bank has become the latest member to join RippleNet. RippleNet is a decentralized network of banks and payment providers, which uses Ripple’s financial technology to provide a smoother way to send money globally, with on-demand liquidity and end-to-end tracking on a blockchain. On this latest development, Ripple said in an announcement: “Ripple’s technology will have an immediate impact on each of those groups, enabling PNC’s commercial clients to receive payments from overseas banks in real time.” PNC Bank is a bank holding company based in Pittsburgh and it operates in 19 states and the District of Columbia with 2,459 branches and 9,051 ATMs. It provides services in the areas of retail, consumer-ended banking, and corporate banking. While retail services (including consumer and small business banking) is predominantly offered to clients in the eastern states, PNC offers corporate and institutional banking across the country. The latest addition of PNC bank to its stable is arguably Ripple’s biggest banking scoop for its flagship product. It is important to note here that RippleNet doesn’t use the XRP token. xRapid, a separate Ripple product which uses XRP for real-time liquidity in international transactions has seen relatively fewer adopters compared to RippleNet.

Ripple’s xRapid on the horizon

In an interview with CNBC, Sagar Sarbhai working as the regulatory relations' head at Ripple in the Middle East and the Asia Pacific region has asserted that Ripple is rapidly progressing with its plan of launching its much-awaited xRapid product. Till now, the company has dealt with a number of significant financial institutions, however, none has yet begun to test xRapid. The list of these institutions includes American Express, Western Union, Santander, and MoneyGram. In the interview, Sagar expressed his confidence regarding the upcoming launch stating, "I am very confident that in the next one month or so you will see some good news coming in where we launch the product live in production." He also focused on the improving scenario of the regulatory bodies associated with the crypto space and blockchain technology. Ripple chief executive Brad Garlinghouse had previously claimed that “dozens” of banks will be using XRP by the end of 2019. See Also: xRapid, a cryptocurrency product of Ripple will be live soon XRP piloted with 12 banks before creation of the xRapid product: Ripple official Image via Shutterstock Join our Telegram group