Ripple, the world ’s third largest cryptocurrency has pumped $50 million into a money transfer company, MoneyGram, in an effort to push up XRP - its digital currency through the cross border payment process.

This new collaboration gives the San Francisco-based startup an unprecedented opportunity to promote X-Rapid, a product that allows for the transfer of XRP for moving money across borders. Ripple described XRP as a form of bridge currency. The Fortune said Ripple, under the terms of the deal, will pay $4.10 cents a share to acquire an 8% to 10% stake in MoneyGram.

Reports say Money Gram will use XRP, valued at about $18 billion, to introduce blockchain-enabled cross-border payments and use xRapid to make blockchain payments commercially avialable. This will reduce time and cost of settlement and maintain the level of security at the same time.

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse said this will eliminate the need to deploy foreign bank accounts. “That’s why MoneyGram has negative working capital. It will help customers and also smooth out their treasury operations.” Garlinghouse said xRapid will become a feature in Ripple’s partnerships with banks and other financial companies as it gives these institutions the ability to unlock liquidity and access multiple corridors with one pre-funded originating account.

Alex Holmes, MoneyGram Chairman and CEO expressed excitment about strategic partnership with Ripple.

“As the payments industry evolves, we are focused on continuing to improve our platform and utilizing the best technology as part of our overall settlement process,” he said. “Through our partnership with Ripple, we will also have the opportunity to further enhance our operations and streamline our global liquidity management.”

Holmes said that with Ripple, MoneyGram is looking forward to further leverage its strengths. “The strategic partnership will enable MoneyGram to settle key currencies and match the timing of funding with its settlement requirements, reducing operating costs, working capital needs and improving earnings and free cash flow," he added.

Ripple
Ripple is set to launch its new product xRapid. Here, illustration of the Ripple's cryptocurrency 'altcoin' sits arranged for a photograph in London, April 25, 2018. Jack Taylor/Getty Images

In 2018, Western Union, MoneyGram’s rival, had ended a trial experiment with xRapid. The world’s largest money transfer company had said that XRP transfer service "had not produced" any significant savings.

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