Ripple has announced plans to obtain an Australian Financial Services Licence (AFSL) through an acquisition to expand its regulated footprint in Asia Pacific.
The license will enable Ripple to expand its payments offering in Australia. Financial institutions, fintechs and enterprises can use these offerings to move value across borders while operating within established regulatory frameworks.
“Licensing is fundamental to Ripple’s strategy, ensuring we can deliver secure, compliant solutions to customers worldwide,” said Fiona Murray, managing director, Asia Pacific, Ripple. “Australia is a key market for Ripple, and an AFSL strengthens our ability to scale Ripple Payments across the region. By leveraging blockchain technology and digital assets, we enable customers to move value globally with greater speed, transparency, and reliability. We remain focused on working closely with regulators to support the next phase of growth for digital asset infrastructure.”
Ripple will obtain its AFSL through the proposed acquisition of BC Payments Australia Pty Ltd, which is subject to finalising the standard completion process.
With the AFSL in place, Ripple Payments can manage the full lifecycle of a transaction, from onboarding and compliance through funding, FX, liquidity management and final payout, while integrating both traditional banking rails and digital assets.
This will allow Ripple to directly oversee settlement, connect customers to local payout partners and optimise transaction routing, delivering faster time to settlement, greater transparency and reduced counterparty risk, the company said.
As a result, companies can utilise a single integration into Ripple’s infrastructure without needing to manage multiple intermediaries or the underlying blockchain technology themselves.
Last month, Aviva Investors and Ripple partnered with the joint intention of tokenising traditional fund structures.
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