Ripple is delighted to announce the addition of a new board member, Marjan Delatinne, who will join us as the Sales Director for Europe. Delatinne will lead our sales efforts for financial institutions in Europe. She will sell Ripple’s commercial blockchain solution to banks looking to offer more competitive cross-border payment services and to join Ripple’s growing global network.

Delatinne joins us from SWIFT where she worked for ten years, most recently in charge of selling their Global Payments Innovation (gpi) offering. She also led EMEA customer engagement for SWIFT gpi. Prior to SWIFT, she worked at Euroclear and the Bank of New York Mellon. With more than two decades of experience in sales leadership roles, Marjan has gained valuable insights into the financial industry and payment infrastructures globally that will be a huge asset to the team.

We spoke with Marjan to learn more about her experience and what she is looking forward to most at Ripple.

What initially interested you about Ripple?

My previous experiences convinced me that the financial industry is in dire need of technology that facilitates faster payments. The industry is looking for modern payments solutions which are built on the latest technology, not outdated infrastructure. Ripple understands how banks function and has adapted to serve them, whereas the incumbents have lost touch with what banks and banks’ customers really want.

I was also compelled by Ripple’s vision of the Internet of Value – a future in which money moves instantly, inexpensively and transparently. It is such an important initiative to move money the way information already moves, and I want to help facilitate it.

What about your new role is most exciting to you? What do you think will be the most challenging aspect of your new role?

What I find most exciting about this role will also be the most challenging: creating a critical mass for a  network, where banks around the world are utilizing Ripple for cross-border payments. It’s a large, ambitious project to take on. Of the blockchain companies in the market, Ripple stands apart with the most advanced blockchain solutions, real customers already moving money, and an extraordinarily talented team. I think we have the key ingredients to make it happen. The journey itself will be exciting and demanding, but I believe we will win, and once this is accomplished we will have revolutionized the payments industry.

SWIFT’s gpi is seen as a competitive play with Ripple – coming from the SWIFT gpi department, do you view them as competitors?

This is an interesting question; we can answer this by putting ourselves in our bank customers’ shoes. The financial industry is composed of a variety of players, differing in size, organizational models, technological restrictions, etc. which creates different needs. SWIFT gpi aims to improve the existing infrastructure that banks have already implemented for some.

On the other hand, I believe that Ripple is offering a completely new and transformative solution by combining the messaging rail with the real time settlement of a payment transaction. This is offering a way for banks to create a better user experience that hasn’t been possible before. Ripple’s goal is to help banks be successful and SWIFT is a bank owned organisation. So I don’t see us as competing against SWIFT.

What do you think the future of payments and fintech will look like?

Nobody knows for certain how the future of payments will pan out, but my hope is that Ripple’s vision for the Internet of Value becomes a reality. When we make that happen, it will have far-reaching economic and social impact on the world.