Financial technology firm PayPal’s international money transfer service, Xoom, has announced a new product that lets users in the United States send money directly to Visa debit card users.Â
In a recent announcement, PayPal mentioned that Xoom partnered with financial services firm Visa, allowing debit card holders to receive funds directly from Xoom. The feature is available in 25 countries, including the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Ukraine and Vietnam.
With the newly-launched function, users can access the funds within minutes, eliminating the need to wait for five business days, which is the average waiting time for wire transfers.Â
Wei-Lin Lee, PayPal’s vice president of remittances, said that the new service could help people during winter and holidays. Lee explained that many customers were sending money globally to their friends and family during those times and that this needed to be done quickly. The executive believes that the newly-expanded service will help users across the globe.
Visa Direct North America head, Yanilsa Gonzalez-Ore, recognized an increased demand for “digital solutions that help remove barriers” for people looking to send money globally. The executive believes that the new solution will be helpful in this regard.
Meanwhile, PayPal has been increasingly covering all fronts regarding financial transactions. Besides enhancing product offerings in cross-border transactions, the company has also embraced cryptocurrency. In 2021, the financial services firm enabled crypto trading for customers in the United Kingdom. In 2022, the company started allowing native transfers of digital assets from PayPal to external wallets and exchanges.
Related: MetaMask to allow users to purchase and transfer Ethereum via PayPal
Within the crypto sphere, cross-border payments for businesses are sometimes associated with Ripple, the firm behind the XRP (XRP) token, which is embroiled in an ongoing legal battle. Similar to Bitcoin (BTC), which creates a borderless economy, Ripple’s focus was to give institutions a real-time settlement system. In 2018, the firm launched its cross-border payments pilot, with significant time and cost savings reported by institutions.