UAE based Emirates NBD, and First Abu Dhabi Bank, as well as Saudi Awwal Bank (SAB) are three of the 30 financial institutions participating with SWIFT on its Blockchain based ledger for cross border payments. The three MENA banks are part of the group of financial institutions from 16 countries are already shaping the design of the ledger which includes over 30 leading banks that are collaborating with Swift to define functionality, governance, and future phases of development.
The initiative announced at Sibos 2025 in Frankfurt, will extend Swift’s trusted platform into a digital environment, unlocking the potential for instant, always-on transactions at global scale and accelerating the industry’s transition to digital finance across more than 200 countries and territories.
“I’m very pleased to announce that we will add a blockchain-based ledger to our technology infrastructure to allow for trusted movement of tokenized value across the digital ecosystems.” Swift CEO Javier Perez-Tasso said, noting that the addition may be surprising to some. “You may think, ‘Wow, aren’t those opposites? Swift and blockchain. TradFi and DeFi. Can they really go together?’ In the regulated system of the future, we believe they can. Banks are ready for it. And they’re asking us to play a bigger role.”
Swift, together with a group of over 30 global financial institutions, has begun designing and developing a shared digital ledger, with the first use case focused on real-time, 24/7 cross-border payments.
Martin Tricaud, Group Head of Wholesale banking at FAB stated, ” The launch of Swift’s blockchain based share ledger represents a defining moment for the future of global payments. As the largest bank in the UAE, FAB is committed to enabling seamless, real-time cross border settlement rails that support the growth of trade investment and remittance flows across our region and beyond.”
The blockchain-based shared ledger will start with a conceptual prototype with Consensys. It will record, sequence and validate transactions and enforce rules through smart contracts. The ledger will be built for interoperability, both with existing and emerging networks, while maintaining the trust, resilience and compliance synonymous with Swift and critical to the secure functioning of global finance.
Anith Daniel, Group Head of Transaction Banking Services at Emirates NBD, also commented, “Embracing the future of finance, Emirates NBD is thrilled to join Swift in pioneering the integration of a blockchain-based shared ledger. This innovative step is set to revolutionize cross-border transactions, making them instant and always-on, no matter where you are in the world. By harnessing Swift’s unparalleled security and scalability, we are committed to delivering a seamless and transparent payment experience for our customers. Together with Swift and our global partners, we are shaping the future of banking, ensuring that our customers benefit from the most advanced and efficient payment solutions available.”
“Combining a shared ledger with Swift’s existing messaging, APIs and ISO 20022 creates an even more powerful construct – one that can embed risk, controls and compliance requirements from the outset into transaction flows while enabling real-time 24/7 interbank cross border payments with the same trust, security, resilience, scalability and operational excellence Swift is known for. All in line with the approach we’ve always taken of responsible innovation.”, said Pérez-Tasso.
UAE and Saudi Banks have been embracing Blockchain
The same banks in MENA and GCC participating with SWIFT have also been advocates of blockchain, stablecoin and digital asset implementations. FAB for example is developing alongside ADI Blockchain and AED stablecoin, while Emirates NBD uses J.P. Morgan’s blockchain for peer to peer data sharing for global account validation. Through integrating with Kinexys Liink’s ‘Confirm’ Application, designed for the exchange of global account validation information, Emirates NBD aims to enhance cross-border payments security for participants on the Kinexys Liink network.
While recently, Saudi Arabian based SAB Bank ( Saudi Awwal Bank) is continuing to build its partnership with Chainlink, in a signing of an Innovation cooperation agreement with Chainlink. Chainlink is a decentralized oracle network that connects blockchains with off-chain data. It launched the first Islamic Repo on blockchain.
What this means for Ripple?
Ripple, which offers blockchain infrastructure for cross border payments received a license in DFSA to offer crypto payment becoming the first blockchain-enabled payments provider licensed by the DFSA. This is the first license for Ripple in MENA allowing it to offer seamless compliant crypto payments in UAE to financial institutions who want to utilize digital assets.
With SWIFT now implementing blockchain, how will Ripple be able to compete?
