Ripple has invested in Money Tap, the P2P cash transfer app operated by a consortium of Japanese financial institutions.
Developed by SBI and Ripple, Money Tap is a smartphone application that enables consumers to make instant domestic payments via a bank account, phone number, or QR code.
The service bypasses domestic payment rails to allow settlement of payment flows over the RippleNet blockchain network using the vendor's cCurrent product, shedding the costs associated with existing banking and ATM fees that are currently applied to domestic money transfers in Japan.
Says SBI: "Through this latest investment by Ripple, Money Tap will further strengthen its partnership with Ripple and accelerate the development of new functions and new services including a small-amount collection service and corporate payment function, a community currency, an overseas remittance service, inbound and outbound remittance services, and a supply chain finance function."
The value of the investment was not disclosed.