Ripple has committed $6 million over three years to Water.org after deploying $3.2 million across Latin America to bring clean water and sanitation financing to more than one million people, slashing cross-border transaction fees by up to 66 percent.
The financial plumbing worked.
Water.org, founded in 2009 by actor Matt Damon and Gary White, relies on a microloan mechanism called WaterCredit. Instead of distributing outright charity, the nonprofit partners with local financial institutions to issue affordable credit to low-income families for household taps, toilets, and piped connections. By plugging into Ripple's payments network and US dollar-backed RLUSD stablecoin settlement rails, capital now moves directly to regional lenders without the friction of legacy international wires.
Banking bottlenecks previously delayed international disbursements for days. In Brazil and Mexico, cross-border settlement windows that once dragged across two to three days dropped to same-day completion, running 24 hours a day, seven days a week rather than halting at commercial banking cutoffs. Lower overhead ensured more capital reached borrowers living on tight margins.
| Partnership Metric | Operational Benchmark |
|---|---|
| Capital Deployed to Date | Over $3.2 million across 4 markets |
| Latin America Population Reached | Over 1,000,000 individuals |
| Three-Year Total Commitment | $6.0 million |
| Settlement Time (Brazil & Mexico) | Slashed from 2–3 days to same-day |
| Transaction Fee Reduction | Up to 66% |
The partnership proves how digital assets function when directed at basic human needs, said Ripple Chief Executive Officer Brad Garlinghouse.
The collaboration is now pushing into new regions. Water.org secured an additional $1.25 million grant denominated in RLUSD through the Stablecoin Impact Fund to launch stablecoin-powered loan disbursements into Indonesia, the Philippines, and Uganda.
Beyond direct grants, Ripple will allocate funds to the WaterEquity Everspring Fund, an impact vehicle designed to recycle repaid microloan capital into continuous lending pools for water infrastructure across emerging markets.