Ripple, a provider of financial settlement solutions, has added seven financial institutions to its growing network. Santander, UniCredit, UBS, ReiseBank, CIBC, National Bank of Abu Dhabi and ATB Financial are among the institutions joining Ripple to improve their cross-border payment technology.

The institutions will make use of Ripple’s distributed financial technology to reduce the time and cost of settlement, while enabling new types of low value cross-border transactions. The majority of the institutions have successfully transferred money via the platform, while all are aiming to implement the technology in commercial production.

Chris Larsen, CEO and co-founder of Ripple, said: “We have reached a tipping point where financial institutions are moving beyond blockchain experimentation and projects to real world applications that are driving significant bank-to-bank volume. As the Ripple network grows, we are paving the way for new connected commerce opportunities and growing demands for real-time, high volume, low value global payments.”

The news follows Santander’s announcement that it has introduced a Ripple-powered mobile app for employees within a staff pilot. The app allows cross-border payments between £10 and £10,000, with the funds received in the recipient’s account the next working day.

Curtis Stange, chief strategy and operations manager of ATB Financial, added: “Using blockchain technology, ATB Financial became the first financial institution in Canada to complete an overseas payment in a matter of seconds. Without blockchain, that transaction would have taken two to six business days. Blockchain is transforming the way we store and move value. While there’s still a great deal to learn, the transaction we performed proves we can significantly reduce the time it takes to move money across borders.”

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