Quick answer: In 2021, Bank of Ayudhya (Krungsri), one of Thailand’s largest banks, connected to the global payments platform Nium over RippleNet to send money between Thailand and the United States and Europe close to real time. The service later ran through Krungsri Biz Online (KBOL) under the Bank of Thailand’s regulatory sandbox, using Ripple and Nium as the underlying rails. It is a working example of a bank replacing slow correspondent banking with a blockchain-based network.
Part of our guide: XRP Explained.
Updated 07/17/2026. By Jake Claver. Educational content, not investment advice.
Cross-border payments are one of the most quoted use cases in the digital-asset industry, and most of the time the examples are pilots or press releases that never reach customers. The Krungsri corridor is different because it shipped: a licensed Thai bank, a regulated payments company, and a named blockchain network moving real transfers for real businesses.
This post walks through what was actually built, how the corridor works today, and why the underlying problem (expensive, slow international transfers) is big enough that central banks are building their own answers to it.
What RippleNet, Nium and Krungsri actually built
RippleNet is Ripple‘s network for connecting banks and payment providers so they can settle cross-border transfers without stringing together a chain of correspondent banks. Nium is a global payments platform that plugs institutions into local payout rails in dozens of countries. Bank of Ayudhya, known as Krungsri, is the fifth-largest bank in Thailand by assets and part of Japan’s MUFG group.
The SBI Ripple Asia announcement in November 2021 described a DLT-based money-transfer arrangement over RippleNet connecting Krungsri as the originating bank in Thailand with Nium reaching into the United States and European regions. In plain terms, a business in Thailand could send funds out, and the money would land through Nium’s network abroad, with RippleNet handling the messaging and settlement between the two institutions.
How the corridor works today
Krungsri productised this as an international money-transfer service inside Krungsri Biz Online (KBOL), aimed at small and medium businesses such as importers. According to Krungsri’s own announcement, the service runs 24/7 without branch visits and covers 13 destination countries, including the United Kingdom, United States, Singapore, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Ireland, Austria, Belgium, Portugal and Australia, in USD, EUR, GBP, SGD and AUD.
- Cost: a flat 599 baht per transaction, with the bank stating no additional deductions by the source or destination bank so the recipient gets the full amount.
- Speed: real-time delivery to the UK and Singapore, and faster transfers than legacy wires to the other markets.
- Partners: Krungsri names Ripple and Nium as its payment-infrastructure partners, alongside MUFG alliances.
- Oversight: the service launched under the Bank of Thailand’s regulatory sandbox.
You can read the primary announcements directly: the Nium and Krungsri partnership release and the Krungsri KBOL service page.
Why cross-border payments cost so much
The reason a corridor like this is worth building is that the old way is expensive. The World Bank’s Remittance Prices Worldwide database put the global average cost of sending remittances at about 6.36 percent in the third quarter of 2025, still well above the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal target of 3 percent. Banks are the most expensive channel of all, averaging close to 15 percent. Digital services run cheaper, around 4.6 percent on average.
For a broader view of the problem and the policy targets, see the World Bank’s remittances resources and the underlying Remittance Prices Worldwide data. A flat 599-baht fee (roughly the cost of a mid-size transfer at a low single-digit percentage, and far less on a large one) is the kind of pricing these networks are trying to make normal.
Where this fits in the bigger picture
Krungsri’s corridor is one bank solving one route. The wider effort to fix cross-border payments is being coordinated at the international level. The Financial Stability Board runs a roadmap for enhancing cross-border payments with targets for cost, speed, access and transparency.
On the infrastructure side, the Bank for International Settlements is building Project Nexus, which links national instant-payment systems so a transfer can reach the recipient within about 60 seconds. Thailand is one of the five founding central-bank members of Nexus, alongside Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore. That matters here: the same country running a private RippleNet corridor is also helping build a public instant-payments network. Banks and central banks are attacking the same problem from different directions. The IMF has modelled how digital money could reshape these flows in its 2025 fintech note on cross-border flows.
Technology versus the asset
It is worth separating two things that often get blurred. RippleNet is a messaging and settlement network that banks use to connect. XRP is a separate digital asset that settles on the XRP Ledger. A bank can use RippleNet for messaging without necessarily using XRP for every transfer, and the public announcements for the Krungsri corridor describe the network and partners rather than confirming XRP as the settlement asset on this specific route.
The educational point is simple: real payment volume on a network is a technology story about adoption. It is not, on its own, a prediction about the price of any token. Those are different questions and should be judged separately.
Why this matters
Most crypto payment claims never touch a customer. This one did: a licensed bank, a regulated payments partner, published fees, named countries and a live sandbox. Whether or not you hold any digital asset, corridors like this are the practical test of whether blockchain networks can move money more cheaply than correspondent banking. The numbers from the World Bank show how much room there still is to improve, and the fact that both private networks and central banks are racing to fill it tells you the demand is real.
Common questions
Did Krungsri use RippleNet or XRP?
The public announcements describe Bank of Ayudhya (Krungsri) using RippleNet, Ripple’s cross-border network, together with Nium, and later name Ripple and Nium as payment-infrastructure partners in the KBOL service. They describe the network and partners rather than confirming XRP as the settlement asset on this specific corridor.
What countries can Krungsri customers send money to?
Krungsri’s KBOL international transfer service lists 13 destination countries, including the United Kingdom, United States, Singapore, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Ireland, Austria, Belgium, Portugal and Australia, in USD, EUR, GBP, SGD and AUD.
How much does it cost?
Krungsri states a flat fee of 599 baht per transaction, with no additional deductions by the source or destination bank, so the recipient receives the full amount. For context, the World Bank put the global average remittance cost at about 6.36 percent in Q3 2025.
Is this still running?
The service launched under the Bank of Thailand’s regulatory sandbox and was offered through Krungsri Biz Online. Availability and terms can change, so check the primary Krungsri and Nium sources linked above for the current status before relying on it.
Does this prove XRP will go up?
No. Real payment volume is evidence of technology adoption, not a price forecast. The value of any digital asset depends on many separate factors, and this article does not make or imply any prediction about it.
This content is educational only. It is not tax, legal, or investment advice. Check primary sources and speak with a qualified professional before making financial decisions.
