The Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) is partnering with American investment bank JP Morgan and Arab Banking Corporation (Bank ABC) in a pilot scheme to introduce instant cross-border payment solutions strengthening state-of-the-art technology and digital currency.
Bank ABC along with JP Morgan will pilot the transferring of funds from and to Bahrain in US-Dollars for payments from buyers to suppliers. This will lead to suppliers being paid faster and buyers originating payments in shorter time periods without the need for holding funds in advance.
As part of the collaboration, CBB will act as a close partner in the pilot between Bank ABC and JP Morgan and in the future, the firms would look to join with Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs).
Ali Moosa Vice Chairman Wholesale Payments JP Morgan
“JP Morgan ONYX has been set up with the mandate to lead the buildout of next-generation clearing and settlement infrastructures and we are delighted to partner with a leading central bank and regulators like the CBB and an innovation-focused partner like Bank ABC to lead the buildout of a next-generation payment and settlement infrastructure.”
In a statement, Rasheed Al-Maraj, Governor of the CBB said “We at the Central Bank of Bahrain are extremely pleased to announce this collaboration which is in line with our vision and strategy to continually develop and enrich the capabilities extended to the stakeholders within our financial services sector in the Kingdom using emerging technologies. Through this pilot with JP Morgan and Bank ABC, we aspire to address the inefficiencies and pain-points which exist today in the traditional cross-border payments arena.”
Bank ABC’s Deputy Group CEO Sael Al Waary commented, “We are excited to collaborate with the CBB and JP Morgan in this landmark pilot, to develop a more efficient payments infrastructure, focused on addressing the current limitations in cross-border payments. We envisage major changes across the world with digital currencies, which will play a critical role in enabling the future digital economies.”
