Ripple Secures Approval in Singapore to Enhance Payment Services

Ripple Wins Singapore Approval to Expand Regulated Payment Services

Ripple Labs has recently obtained regulatory clearance from Singapore's central bank, allowing it to expand its payments business. This significant development bolsters the company's efforts to strengthen its institutional presence throughout the Asia-Pacific region.

Key Takeaways:

Ripple has received approval from Singapore’s central bank to provide enhanced regulated payment services for banks and corporations.
The expanded license enables Ripple to improve its infrastructure, facilitating faster and more affordable cross-border transactions using RLUSD and XRP.
This initiative supports Ripple’s growth in the Asia-Pacific region, where on-chain activity has surged nearly 70% year-over-year.

On Monday, Ripple announced that its local entity, Ripple Markets APAC, has been granted approval by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) under its Major Payment Institution (MPI) license to broaden its regulated payment services.

This approval permits Ripple to enhance the range of services it provides to financial institutions within Singapore’s highly regulated financial ecosystem.

Ripple President Highlights Investment Potential from Singapore Approval

Ripple President Monica Long expressed the company’s appreciation for Singapore's regulatory environment, viewing the expanded license as a vital foundation for future investments. She noted that this move will aid Ripple in creating the necessary infrastructure for financial entities that desire quicker and more secure cross-border payment options.

Central to Ripple's offerings is Ripple Payments, a service that links clients with on- and off-ramps for collections, custody, currency exchange, and payouts. The platform utilizes digital payment tokens like RLUSD and XRP to settle international transactions, aiming to lower costs and processing times for corporate clients.

Since 2017, Singapore has been essential to Ripple's strategy. The company first acquired its MPI license in 2023, permitting it to offer regulated digital token services. While the MAS registry continues to include token-related services under the license, Ripple indicates that this latest approval expands its operational capabilities, allowing it to deliver a wider array of institutional services.

This regulatory achievement coincides with an acquisition strategy intended to enhance service offerings for enterprise clients. In early November, Ripple acquired Palisade, a provider of wallets and custodial services, as part of its effort to combine custody with payment and liquidity solutions for larger customers.

Regional expansion has been a significant factor behind this growth. Fiona Murray, Ripple's Asia-Pacific head, mentioned that on-chain activity in the region has increased approximately 70% year-over-year, with Singapore being at the forefront of this growth.

According to Murray, these new permissions will empower Ripple to provide regulated services to the institutions driving this upward trend.

Ripple's RLUSD Gains Regulatory Approval in Abu Dhabi

Just last week, Ripple's dollar-backed stablecoin RLUSD achieved regulatory approval for institutional use in Abu Dhabi after being recognized as an Accepted Fiat-Referenced Token by the local financial authorities.

This approval permits licensed companies within the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) to utilize RLUSD for regulated financial activities in the free-zone financial center. The green light was granted by the Financial Services Regulatory Authority, which oversees ADGM. Under the established guidelines, companies can utilize RLUSD, provided they meet strict requirements regarding reserves, transparency, and compliance.

This development strengthens Ripple’s growth across the UAE. In recent months, the company has secured approvals in both Dubai and Abu Dhabi, onboarding partners such as Zand Bank and Mamo.

Additionally, Ripple is contemplating the introduction of staking to the XRP Ledger (XRPL), a strategy that would further extend the decade-old blockchain into the rapidly growing decentralized finance sector.