Ripple on Wednesday announced plans to secure an Australian Financial Services License through the proposed acquisition of BC Payments Australia Pty Ltd, according to a release shared with CoinDesk.
The acquisition, which is still subject to completion, will allow Ripple to offer its full payments stack in Australia, covering onboarding, compliance, funding, currency, liquidity management and payout through a single integration.
Australian customers currently using Ripple Payments include Hai Ha Money Transfer, Stables, Caleb & Brown, Flash Payments and Independent Reserve.
“Australia is a key market for Ripple and an AFSL strengthens our ability to scale Ripple Payments across the region,” Fiona Murray, CEO of Asia Pacific, said in a statement.
The regional numbers support push. Ripple said its APAC payment volume nearly doubled year-on-year by 2025, although it did not disclose specific numbers.
This growth parallels the $100 billion in total processed volume the company reported last week when it announced managed custody, virtual account collections and stablecoin settlement capabilities across 60 markets.
Ripple also said it is participating in Project Acacia, an initiative led by the Reserve Bank of Australia and the Digital Finance Cooperative Research Center focused on digital asset infrastructure.
The licensing approach is remarkable. Instead of applying for an AFSL directly, Ripple buys a company that already has one. It’s a faster route to market, but it means the license is conditional on the deal closing, which hasn’t happened yet.
XRP traded at $1.38, up 0.3% on the day and 1.7% on the week.
