National Commercial Bank of Saudi Arabia joins Ripple’s blockchain network

The National Commercial Bank (NCB), one of the largest financial institutions in the Middle East, is the latest to join RippleNet, Ripple’s enterprise blockchain network with over 100-member banks and financial institutions.

This follows Ripple’s pilot with the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority announced in February. The central bank signed an agreement with Ripple to help banks in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) improve their payments infrastructure using xCurrent, Ripple’s enterprise software solution for instant settlement of cross-border payments.

NCB will be in production on RippleNet by the end of Q4 2018, Ripple said in an online post.

“NCB will connect to other financial institutions around the world through RippleNet. Ripple’s blockchain technology also provides their customers with faster and more transparent international payment services,” Ripple said.

“The bank will first connect to financial institutions in North America and Asia, starting in Singapore. Launching these two critical payments corridors out of the gate offers immediate value to NCB’s customers — services in regions that they have not had access to before.”

Founded in 1953, NCB is the second largest bank in the Middle East by total assets. In July, the bank announced that its net income for the first half of 2018 reached SAR 5,566 million compared to SAR 5,120 million for the same period of the previous year, an increase of 8.7%.

“Their decision to join RippleNet is an innovative step forward in blockchain adoption in both the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and across the Middle East,” Ripple added. “For SMEs and corporations that depend on NCB, more efficient and transparent remittances will provide stability and help them grow their business faster.”