Ripple has focused on serving customers around the world with over 90% of the company’s business outside the US. The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region is a key market for the company, with around 20% of all RippleNet customers, such as SABB, Qatar National Bank, Lulu Financial Holdings, Al-Ansari Exchange, and RAK Bank, based there, as per the press release.
Over half of Ripple’s MENA payment volume consists of cross-border payments such as remittances from the UAE, Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia to India. In 2020, the company chose Dubai as the location for its MENA headquarters due to its innovation-forward regulations, expansive network, and reputation as an important global financial centre.
Ripples officials explained that Dubai’s regulators have risen to the challenge of establishing a framework that allows the local crypto industry to thrive, create jobs, and increase economic growth, while also ensuring participants act in a responsible manner. Dubai is playing an important part in shaping the world’s future economy. By demonstrating truly visionary leadership, the Emirate has positioned itself as a fintech hub that is embracing crypto and blockchain technologies to bring innovation and foreign investment into the space.
In late 2021, Ripple announced the launch of its On-Demand Liquidity (ODL) deployment in the Middle East, with Pyypl, the international blockchain-based financial services technology company in the Middle East and Africa. ODL leverages the digital asset XRP to underpin instant and low-cost cross-border payments. By using ODL, financial institutions and Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) can leverage previously trapped, pre-funded capital to grow and scale their businesses.
Ripple’s representatives went on to say that in a hyper-global connected world, the need for cross-border payments is on the rise, with an estimated USD 156 trillion worth of cross-border payment flows in 2022 alone. As a region containing a number of significant remittance markets and corridors, the Middle East’s financial institutions are focused on making payments faster, cheaper, and more efficient for the people who need it the most. This is where Ripple excels. It was of the first enterprise companies to leverage crypto to tackle the trillion-dollar challenges associated with cross-border payments.
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