Cross-border payments can be a hassle, but the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is looking to change all that with a new Ethereum-based system designed to remove inefficiencies and errors that come with transactions that occur beyond home-based borders.
Sending money overseas can be a very lengthy and costly experience, which is why several have turned to bitcoin and digital currency over the years to get the job done. As usage has increased, remittance fees for bitcoin have subsequently dropped, making it easier for migrant workers to send money home to their families. In the case of Ethereum, the platform has experienced several issues including various DDoS attacks and repeated hard forks, but the technology behind the bitcoin competitor is often touted as some of the most advanced in today’s market. Ethereum even beat bitcoin in the “highest-performing cryptocurrency” arena for the year.
One of the big problems with remittance and cross-border payments in Europe is that they can take an extensive amount of time. Richard Crook, head of Innovation Engineering at RBS explains:
“If you are trying to make payments in Europe – France to Germany, or UK to France – at worst, it’s a three-day round trip, and it’s certainly a two-day batch cycle. They do not have an equivalent of the FasterPayments service.”
The new system, known as the RBS Emerald system, can significantly reduce wait times. Approximately 100 payments will enter the system every second, and most transactions will be completed in under 25 seconds. A pretty big difference from three days…
Emerald does not presently boast a go-live date, though the system is slated to make the problems and issues of remittance payments a thing of the past, and senders can rest assured knowing the funds they deliver will be received almost instantaneously. Crook further comments:
“Fundamentally, what we have built is a distributed clearing house… We have worked quite hard.”