Ripple Expands Presence In MENA Region By Partnering With Al Ansari Exchange
Distributed ledger company Ripple has partnered with Al Ansari Exchange, a Dubai-based money transfer and exchange company, according to an announcement on Wednesday.
The latter will use RippleNet Cloud to establish a money transfer corridor between the United Arab Emirates and Malaysia.
Payments sent through Al Ansari Exchange will be received by MoneyMatch, a Malaysian fintech startup.
Using Ripple’s cloud solution, Malaysian workers residing in the United Arab Emirates will be able to send near instant payments to their homes.
As a first step, the Al Ansari Exchange will allow the sending of funds to the Malaysian ringgit. He also wants to add the Australian dollar and the Brunei dollar later.
Ripple’s Navin Gupta noted that the Al Ansari Exchange is one of the “longest standing” exchanges in the MENA region:
Al Ansari is one of the largest and oldest exchanges in the region, focused on expanding its network and evolving its offerings to provide the best financial services to its clients. We see this partnership with MoneyMatch as a continuation of that philosophy, and we are excited to partner with them to improve cross-border payments in key transfer lanes with RippleNet Cloud.
The UAE has been one of the main markets for Ripple. Last November, the company opened a regional headquarters in Dubai.
In May, Ripple also announced an agreement with the National Bank of Egypt.