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- Ripple partner SBI Remit has partnered with Japan’s Lawson Bank to roll out the “Remit Card” to more than 13,400 ATMs.
- SBI Holdings is one of Ripple’s key partners in Asia.
SBI Remit Corporation and Lawson Bank, Ltd. announced today that ATMs at Japan’s Lawson Bank will accept SBI Remit’s international money transfer service beginning January 12. SBI Remit is the largest money transfer provider in Japan with over 10 billion Japanese yen monthly, with 90% of its customers being foreigners living in Japan.
Through the partnership with Lawson Bank, its customers can use the “Remit Card” to make international money transfers 24 hours a day, 365 days a year and at more than 13,400 Lawson Bank ATMs, according to the official press release from SBI Holdings. The ATMs are located in Lawson convenience stores throughout Japan and offer an international money transfer service that allows customers to send money to more than 220 countries and regions around the world in as little as 10 minutes.”
How is Ripple involved?
According to the press release, SBI Remit can be used to send money to students abroad, to send living expenses to family members, or to send money to a local agent if users do not have a bank account abroad. Even though there is no word about Ripple in the press release, the news was received positively by XRP Community.
SBI Holdings is one of the biggest supporters of Ripple in Asia. Yoshitaka Kitao, CEO of SBI Holdings is also a member of Ripple’s board of directors and is considered a driving force for XRP based projects in Japan. SBI Remit has been working with Ripple for several years to enable instant transfers abroad. In collaboration with Siam Commercial Bank (SCB), SBI Remit uses the RippleNet to make real-time remittance payments between Japan and Thailand.
However, it is important to emphasize that not the entire SBI Remit business model is based on Ripple. Among others, SBI Remit also uses MoneyGram’s payment network to facilitate global money transfers. However, back in late 2019, SBI Holding announced that they plan to use XRP to use remittances from Japan to Southeast Asia. The company under Kitao’s leadership has stated that it plans to cover nearly 50% of the entire Ripple Network.
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