Ripple, the network for frictionless global payment services to financial institutions announced the other day that they’ve opened a new office in Mumbai, India.
Mr. Navin Gupta has been appointed Country Manager for Ripple India, following two decades in transaction banking, product management and global strategy roles at HSBC and Citibank across the U.S, Hong Kong, Japan, Taiwan, and India.
The government of India has previously announced a vision to transform the country into a digitally-empowered society and knowledge economy.
Some predict India’s digital economy will reach $1 trillion by 2022, from $270 billion today.
A key component of this forward-thinking vision includes the India Stack, an ongoing project to create a unified software platform to bring India’s population, banks and payment providers into the digital age.
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghous said:
“India is transforming itself into a digital economy and is an innovative leader in payments. Our new office in Mumbai, led by Navin, will allow us to respond to the rapidly-growing demand for frictionless payments by our current customers, Axis Bank and YES Bank, as well as other bank and nonbanks across the country.”
“Navin brings to the role a wealth of global banking and payments expertise that we are confident will drive demand for Ripple payments solutions into India. We are very excited to welcome him to the team.”
Navin Gupta added:
“India is the largest recipient of corporate and retail remittances worldwide, totaling close to $71 billion. The businesses and Indian expatriates sending money into the country want their cross-border payments to be as fast and seamless as payments made within India’s domestic digital payment network. Why should a cross-border transfer take any longer than an electronic transfer within India?”
“Ripple’s instant, cost-effective blockchain-powered payments can be a transformative component of India’s economy, helping bring the many who have limited access to payment services into the fold. We are committed to building our presence in this market with significant investment, and I look forward to expanding our local team with this vision.”