PNC Bank Signs On to Use Ripple's xCurrent, Joins RippleNet

Ripple has revealed that it has signed its first major U.S. bank to its network.

PNC Bank, the ninth-largest bank in the U.S. by assets, is the latest institution to join Ripple's enterprise blockchain network RippleNet.

The bank also joins the ranks of over 100 other financial institutions that currently use Ripple's xCurrent product, an enterprise software solution that enables banks to instantly settle cross-border payments with end-to-end tracking.

This is perfect for banks, which have historically been hesitant toward the use of cryptocurrencies, as the xCurrent product does not use Ripple's digital currency, XRP, unlike the xRapid platform.

"Ripple's technology will have an immediate impact on each of those groups, enabling PNC's commercial clients to receive payments from overseas banks in real time."

PNC caters to a wide variety of clients and offers retail, consumer and corporate banking options.

PNC is arguably Ripple's largest banking client; however, RippleNet also supports Banco Santander, SBI and American Express.

In an interview with Coindesk, Ripple's Senior Vice President Asheesh Birla noted that PNC has already conducted its pilot phase and proof-of-concept, and the bank will begin using xCurrent immediately in a production environment.

The bank will also only accept inbound transactions to start.

xCurrent isn't the main objective though, according to Birla, who wants banks to start using Ripple's platform before slowly introducing them to xRapid and XRP. "With PNC, the idea is to get a few corridors lit up with xCurrent When they're ready to start talking about emerging markets, we'll introduce them to xRapid. We're working to get them started with xCurrent so it's not a completely new feature to move to xRapid."