Ripple provides global financial settlement solutions so that ultimately the world can exchange value as if it were already exchanging information, resulting in an Internet of Value (IoV). Ripple enables solutions that reduce the total cost of settlement by allowing holders to transact directly, without correspondent banks and with real-time settlement certainty. Banks around the world are partnering with Ripple to enhance their cross-border payment offerings and to join the growing global network of financial institutions and market makers that lay the foundations for the Internet of Value.
The proposed alternative is the use of $XRP as a common currency underlying all money transfers between different currencies (the US dollar is currently the most common currency). Not only are transaction fees much lower for converting from one currency to $XRP and vice versa, but transfers take a maximum of 4 seconds to execute and verify. Quite a few global banks have already started adopting Ripple, as it saves them a lot of money in the long run by avoiding exchange fees.
