New Santander App Combines Ripple & ApplePay

Santander has begun using an app for international payments using Ripple Labs’ blockchain technology, according to Ripple on its Ripple Insights website. The pilot app makes Santander the first U.K. bank to use Ripple technology for cross-border payments. Santander is introducing the app as a staff pilot, with the intention to expand the technology. Once the app is downloaded, Santander staff just have to complete profile details to start to make payments. The app connects to Apple Pay, where users can securely confirm payments using Touch ID. It allows users transfer between £10 and....

Earlier this week, Apple's new mobile NFC payment network, ApplePay, went live. From its first few days of life, huge issues are already popping up regarding ApplePay's security. Multiple users are reporting that using ApplePay has resulted in duplicate charges to their bank statement. CNN Money's Samuel Burke found out about the double spends after forgoing a card swipe and using ApplePay at several merchants: I logged into my debit card account and found that I was charged twice for every purchase I made with ApplePay. A quick search on Twitter found other people with the same problem.....

The UK arm of Spanish banking group Santander has developed a new payments app in partnership with distributed ledger startup Ripple. The app, announced today, is currently available to Santander UK staff, but the bank has plans to roll it out before the end of 2016, a move that would make it the first major bank in the country to offer payment services via blockchain to its clients. The project is a product of the continued relationship between the bank and Ripple, an association that began in earnest when Santander InnoVentures, its venture capital arm, invested $4m as part of Ripple’s....

Ripple has received an estimated $4m in funding from Santander InnoVentures, bringing its Series A total to $32m. The Spanish banking group's FinTech fund joins a combination of new and existing investors, including VC funds of US futures and options exchange CME Group and data storage firm Seagate Technology. Ripple, now being tested by a number of banks, has bought in $41m to date. Speaking about the additional investment, CEO and co-founder Chris Larsen said in a statement: "Santander InnoVentures is a natural fit in this round because of their demonstrated support for real-time....

Spanish banking group Santander has made its first investment into the blockchain, a payment settlement technology that supports Bitcoin. Santander InnoVentures, the bank's $100-million investment vehicle made to support potential FinTech technologies, has invested $4 million into Silicon Valley-based Ripple Labs. The latter is a renowned remittance company which harnesses blockchain technology to simplify money exchange across borders. It has also formed partnerships with some of the world's leading banks - including Commonwealth Bank of Australia and Royal Bank of Scotland - to explore....