A Ripple executive has announced that his firm is close to launching its xRapid tool that helps banks speed up transactions by using its crypto XRP.

“I am very confident that in the next one month or so you will see some good news coming in where we launch the product live in production,” says Head of Regulatory Relations for Asia Pacific and Middle East Sagar Sarbhai in an interview with CNBC.

Sarbhai explains that the xRapid uses XRP as a way a bridge between currencies which will allow payment firms and financial institutions to process cross-border transactions in less time. For example, traditionally if a bank needs to make a transaction that involves converting US dollars to Indian rupees it would require pre-funded local currency accounts. However, with xRapid, the process could be much faster because it converts the dollar to XRP and then back to rupees once in India.

Banks and money transfer firms sign up for xRapid

Santander, American Express, MoneyGram and Western Union have already signed up to implement xRapid in their processes. No bank has tested the product yet.

Sarbhai says that currently over 120 banks and financial institutions have partnered with Ripple to use xCurrent. The blockchain product allows banks to quickly settle international transactions in real-time.

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse claims dozens of banks will begin to use xRapid by the end of next year.

Sarbhai also spoke of an improving atmosphere in regards to blockchain and cryptocurrency regulations as financial authorities begin to see the benefits of cryptocurrencies.

“A couple of years ago, the narrative was: blockchain good, crypto bad,” he adds. “What we’re now seeing is more and more regulators, policymakers taking the whole space in one conjunction. So, I think that narrative thankfully is now changing because policymakers, regulators are seeing that there is a strong benefit that digital assets, cryptocurrencies bring in.”

Sarbhai insists that XRP is not a security and for the US Securities and Exchange Commission to understand this Ripple is attempting to “educate them about our use cases”. One reason it’s not a security, he adds, is that it does not pay dividends.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the author should not be considered as financial advice. We do not give advice on financial products.