Ripple Partner Tranglo Expands Reigns in Abu Dhabi via Lulu Partnership

Lavina Daryanani
Source: Gulf Business

Traditional payment methods are getting obsolete with every passing day. Post the collapse of several major banks in the U.S., customers’ confidence in the system was dented. As a result, On-Demand Liquidity [ODL] and crypto payment service providers are being looked upon as content-worthy alternatives. According to a recent research report sent to Watcher Guru by crypto payment ecosystem CoinsPaid,

The share of crypto payments, if accepted by the merchant, averages up to 22%. The potential average turnover attributable to crypto payments is $440,000 per month.

Even though users have started gravitating towards the DeFi-side of the spectrum, there are several hindrances that still persist. Volatility, blockchain fees, the complex payment maintenance process, and a non-automated reporting system are just to name a few.

Even so, several companies from the space are striving to make the fund transfer process simpler for users. Ripple partner Tranglo tied up with Lulu Money, a subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi-based financial services company Lulu Financial Holdings, in an attempt to benefit individuals and businesses seeking “efficient, fast, and secure fund transfers.”

According to the official announcement, Tranglo processes 80% of its payments in real time. This is far better when compared to the global industry average of 1 to 5 business days. 

Also, Read: Ripple Witnessed 4 Wins This Week: XRP Turns Bullish

Partnership to help reduce payment transfer time

In March 2021, Ripple acquired a 40% stake in Tranglo to scale its services. Retrospectively, Tranglo enabled Ripple’s ODL service across 25 of its payment corridors in March last year. The same followed after the successful pilot deployment in September 2021. In the first 100 days, over 250,000 transactions worth $48 million had been processed. Explaining how the latest deal is all set to leverage the mutual strengths of both companies, Tranglo Group’s CEO Jacky Lee said,

“Lulu Money specializes in connecting end users with beneficiaries worldwide through accessible cross-border payments. We are confident the partnership will further lower the time it takes to send funds, thanks to Tranglo Connect’s real-time infrastructure and smart connection to our payout corridors.”  

Lulu Financial Holdings CEO Richard Wason, on the other hand, pointed out that this partnership will enable Tranglo to benefit from our extensive network while simultaneously strengthening its payments infrastructure connecting various corridors. Ultimately, this move will help both companies “provide faster and more reliable transactions” to customers.

In Q3 last year, Tranglo—announced its expansion into the Middle East. The cross-border payment processing hub has opened a new payment corridor in the United Arab Emirates. The aforementioned development was a part of Tranglo’s Middle East expansion program. The same focus is on infrastructural investment and network building to add supplementary channels.

At that time, Ripple’s partner chalked out a couple of reasons why it had chosen the UAE for expansion. Notably, the Arab Gulf region has emerged to be a “key region” for cross-border payments. In fact, Tranglo also highlighted that the UAE is “one of the top” remittance senders and receivers in the world.

Also Read: Ripple’s partner expands into UAE: Opens new ODL corridor