A blockchain startup for banks received $ 55 million in funding.

PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. or PNC Bank - a well-known American corporation in the financial services market. The sensational news was the introduction of an operational transfer system based on Ripples xCurrent technology into the banks work. The company conducts its business in the USA, over 19 large states.

The main area of work is banking customer service (institutional, corporate, individual). The financial giant is one of the top 10 largest banks in America, is the fifth in the number of branches (2,600), the third in the opening of ATMs (10,000), the sixth in terms of deposits and the ninth in terms of assets. PNC Bank NA is the groups headquarters, which owns 21 percent of BlackRock. Based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
 

A bit of history

The history of the bank begins with the Pittsburgh Trust and Savings Company, established in April 1845 in Pennsylvania. Already in 1852, after a great fire, restoration and operational work began, the company was renamed the Pittsburgh Trust Company. Central corporate offices have been located at the corner of Wood Street and Fifth Avenue since 1858. Since 1859, the bank became known as the First National Bank and subsequently the leading branch of the company. Major development milestones:

    1863-1864 - a number of mergers were made, including with another Philadelphia branch based on the Provident National Corp;
    1982-1983 - after the largest mergers of the two branches for that time, the new company PNC Financial Corporation is formed;
    in the 90s, the company acquired more than 10 small banks and other financial enterprises, which allowed expanding the market base of the corporation;
    since 2000 - a new development strategy and another change of the name of PNC Financial Services Group;
    From 2007 to 2017, a number of acquisitions were made that made PNC the most powerful bank in Pennsylvania and other states, increased work opportunities in the western part, and provided access to global financial markets.

Today this financial group is the leading one in the American markets. That is why PNC Bank was chosen to implement the new project. As the vice president of the Ripple product department, Ashish Birla, assures, after a successful test of the new technology, it will be used by the banks clients to conduct real transactions.
 

PNC bank and its features

The bank is the main branch of the financial group and is based in Pittsburgh. PNCs Banking Satisfaction Survey shows the average number of satisfied depositors. After a series of successful purchases of commercial structures and housing stock, the financial crisis was overcome. Today the bank has a number of positive aspects in its development:

    stable financial performance;
    the price of shares of companies is currently quite low - P / E 12.9;
    the latest quarterly report exceeded analysts expectations.

Modernization of the PNC work system is important, according to the vice president, primarily for representatives of small businesses in America. The xCurrent technology was tested on payments that accompanied the issuance of railway tickets. So, what is the new technology, and what are the prospects for the bank when using it.
 

PNCs partnership with Ripple

In September 2018, financial giant PNC signed a partnership agreement with blockchain startup Ripple. As a result of the testing, one of the platforms products will be used to make international transfers and payments in real time. And today, many Americans can use it to conduct transactions. The consumers of the banks products are representatives of small and medium-sized businesses, large corporations.

The xCurrent technology for the payment platform will allow you to minimize any costs when conducting cross-border transactions. The company expects that the inclusion of such a well-known bank as PNC will help develop the network. The RippleNet system has more than 100 financial partners, covering over 40 countries on 6 continents. The partnership of PNC Bank will allow it to use the potential of the new technology, to provide customers with cheaper and faster services.

A modern money transfer system takes 2-3 days, the average rate is 7.5%. The developers claim that the blockchain makes it possible to conduct transactions quickly and with low fees. With the global economy becoming more digital, real-time payments are in demand. Therefore, the RippleNet platform is very beneficial for many financial institutions.
 

Prospects for cooperation of an American startup with PNC

The American fintech company Ripple is organized specifically for the banking sector and is designed to provide the transfer of cross-border payments. According to press reports, this blockchain group was able to quickly attract investors, raise capital and draw the attention of large financial institutions to its technological development.

A blockchain startup for banks received $ 55 million in funding, which increased the companys total capital to 93 million. This established a leading position among corporations that develop technologies to support virtual currencies. Despite the fact that many global financial institutions reject bitcoin as a possible currency so far, blockchain technology is recognized as promising for transactions. The new blockchain solution xRapid, which uses XRP token as a liquidity transfer vehicle, will facilitate and speed up international transfers and payment transactions.

As of August 2019, the platforms performance is 1500 transactions per second. When scaling up, Visa can grow to 50,000 transactions. According to the first vice president, cooperation with PNC is aimed at ensuring that the bank acquires new channels of high-speed settlements with clients based on xCurrent, and then, with the development of markets, using xRapid.

Representatives of the Ripple company express the hope that the signing of an agreement with PNC bank is only the beginning. The bank already has production clients using the product, but confidentiality does not allow us to name them.