Ripple, Banks’ Biggest Challenger?

Be with us or against us…

Interesting article here by the Bangkok Post: Banks Struggling to Stay Relevant

The article opens with a Bill Gates comment in 1994 that “banking is necessary, banks are not.”

Which is kind of proven by Siam Commercial Bank (SCB), a leading Ripple client in Asia. The Ripple-SCB partnership is well documented.

In case you haven’t seen it yet listen in to Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse’s recent visit at SCB headquarters in Bangkok (starts at 1:19:30).

SCB in 2016 invested an undisclosed sum in Ripple seeking to be the first Thai bank that invests in feasibility study and testing of enterprise-grade blockchain technology. To date, they lead the transformation of the Thai banking industry.

The Bangkok Post article quoted above suggests that by now, due to advances in fintech, the banking industry is self-disrupting itself, undoubtedly thanks to innovations such as Ripple’s:

Siam Commercial Bank made waves a few weeks ago by scrapping fees for interbank and cross-clearing zone fund transfer, bill payment and top-up transactions over online channels. The bank’s move compelled other banks to follow suit.

In related news, SCB is closing 200 branches and putting greater emphasis on mobile banking service.

Undoubtedly encouraged by what Ripple enables them to do.

SCB reported a steep increase in new customers since the bank’s no-fee service for digital transactions began on March 26, 2018.

Concluding: By accepting or refusing Ripple (or similar) services, banks seal their own future.

SCB is just one of many banks.

The writing’s on the wall.