One of South Korea’s largest remittance companies has joined Ripple’s network of institutional payment providers to accelerate payments between the country and Thailand.

Global Money Express Co. Ltd (GME Remittance) has linked up with Siam Commercial Bank – Thailand’s largest bank by market capitalization – using RippleNet, according to a blog post on Aug.

Ripple is shifting its focus to Asia, which the company says is the fastest-growing region with transactions up 130% year-over-year.

The relationship with SBI Ripple Asia – a joint venture between SBI Holdings and Ripple – seeks to “accelerate and expand” payments in order to facilitate the remittance needs of approximately 184,000 Thai nationals currently living in Thailand. reside in Korea.

GME Remittance is also looking to connect with other RippleNet customers to expand into additional remittance corridors across Asia and globally, including Europe and the United States, according to the announcement.

Ripple argues that current global payment systems set up by financial institutions and large banks are “outdated, irregular, and distributed.” The Ripple network is trying to overcome these by providing key solutions built on top of blockchain technology.

“We chose Ripple as our partner because with RippleNet we can launch new countries with new partners within 1-2 weeks,” said Subash Chandra Poudel, director of GME Remittance. “This has significantly reduced time to market and gives us an edge over our competitors.”