The U.S. firm Ripple is to expand its headquarters in Singapore so it can stay vigilant to the requirements of its regional customers.
Ripple intends to increase its headcount of 12 staff to about 24 , and grow the range of its operations beyond basic customer-servicing.
«The demand here is significant, so it's an easy decision for us to continue to invest in this market and make sure that we can... also seek out new customers, new partners and new ways that we can work with the market,» said Eric van Miltenburg, senior vice-president of global operations Ripple who was quoted in the «Business Times» (behind paywall).
Demand in Southeast Asia
Making its entrance in Singapore in 2017, Ripple creates software to support cross-border payments for banks. The Asian market has become one of increasing importance, making up about half of its 200 customers.
Southeast Asia, in particular, is an «incredibly important market for the company, given interest from regional banks in using blockchain for payments,» added Miltenburg. Ripple's customers in the region include Singapore remittance startup InstaReM, Malaysia's CIMB Bank, Thailand's Siam Commercial Bank and BDO in the Philippines.
