Japan-based financial services company SBI Group has partnered with Ripple to use XRP to expand its international payment remittances to bank accounts in the Philippines, Vietnam, and Indonesia.

In a Sept. 6 press statement, SBI disclosed its plan to utilize XRP as a bridge currency between the mentioned countries. Additionally, it entered into a strategic partnership with TRANGLO, a prominent international fund transfer firm, to ensure that recipients receive their transferred funds in their local currency.

The company based its selection of XRP on the token’s scalability, highlighting its potential to enhance competitiveness within the global payment ecosystem. Additionally, XRP was chosen for its ability to facilitate swift and cost-efficient cross-border remittances.

“By using XRP as a bridge currency, you can transfer money quickly and at low cost. Furthermore, it has excellent scalability, allowing users to easily send money to Ripple’s partners around the world, and we believe this will lead to stronger competitiveness in the international remittance business.”

SBI Remit, which has employed Ripple Payments for international transfers since 2017, is poised to commence its expansion this month.

In 2021, the firm introduced cryptocurrency payment solutions connecting Japanese and Filipino crypto wallets. With this expansion, SBI Remit would further enhance XRP’s acceptance and foster greater adoption among traditional financial institutions,

XRP price down

XRP’s price failed to react positively to news of its adoption in Japan, as the digital asset is down by around 1% in the last 24 hours to $0.49716 as of press time, according to CryptosSlate’s data.

The digital asset, which has experienced a 30-day downtrend, has nearly erased all the gains it achieved following Ripple’s partial victory in its case against the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). This loss can be attributed to the prevailing bearish sentiment dominating the cryptocurrency market.