JP Morgan has deepened its foothold in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) by onboarding two major regional banks—Qatar National Bank (QNB) and Saudi National Bank (SNB)—to its blockchain platform, Kinexys Digital Payments.
QNB recently implemented Kinexys to manage its USD corporate flows, leveraging the blockchain-powered platform to tackle complex settlement challenges related to cross-border payments and liquidity funding. The bank says the technology is helping modernise and streamline corporate payments in an increasingly interconnected financial ecosystem.
Meanwhile, SNB has gone live with Kinexys to bring programmable, real-time payments to its treasury operations. The platform allows SNB to move funds across branches 24/7 and discharge payment obligations without being constrained by traditional cut-off times. SNB also plans to extend these capabilities to select large corporate clients.
“We’ve successfully piloted U.S. dollar-denominated flows,” said Ali Al Shubbar, Head of Treasury Operations and International Operations at SNB. “This technology will allow us to scale our existing offering and introduce more cutting-edge and frictionless capabilities.”
Kinexys is rapidly becoming a dominant player in MENA’s digital payments infrastructure, with eight major regional banks now live on the system—including Commercial Bank of Dubai, First Abu Dhabi Bank, and Bank ABC.
Naveen Mallela, Global Co-Head of Kinexys by JP Morgan, remarked: “The increasingly digital global economy in the Middle East and North Africa presents a unique opportunity to continue supporting clients through our innovative offerings. We are excited to work with our clients across MENA to realize the future of finance.”