Jeel, the innovation arm of Riyad Bank, and FinTech company Ripple agreed to collaborate on implementing blockchain technologies in Saudi Arabia’s financial system, with a focus on cross-border payments, digital asset custody, and tokenization.
Jeel, which is responsible for technological innovation at Riyad Bank, signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Ripple to explore practical blockchain use cases aimed at creating faster, cheaper, and more transparent financial services across the Kingdom.
As part of the partnership, the parties will assess how blockchain solutions can increase the speed of international transfers and reduce their cost, as well as develop use cases for decentralized solutions in digital asset custody and tokenization. The initiative directly supports the Vision 2030 strategy, which targets the digital transformation of the economy and the development of a competitive FinTech ecosystem in Saudi Arabia.
The joint work will be carried out within Jeel’s regulatory sandbox. The companies plan to develop and test several proof-of-concept projects to evaluate Ripple’s technologies in a controlled, regulation-compliant environment. Special attention will be given to building blockchain-based payment corridors to improve the quality of international remittances, as well as to establishing robust operational and regulatory models for digital asset custody.
According to Jeel CEO George Harrak, the use of a sandbox makes it possible to responsibly explore next-generation financial infrastructure and evaluate scalable solutions capable of optimizing cross-border payments and enhancing the country’s digital financial capabilities.
For Jeel, the partnership strengthens its position as one of the leaders in regulated blockchain experimentation in Saudi Arabia and expands Riyad Bank’s technology strategy beyond traditional FinTech initiatives. Ripple, in turn, gains access to the Kingdom’s rapidly growing FinTech market and Jeel’s institutional network, as well as the opportunity to showcase its enterprise blockchain infrastructure in one of the region’s most tightly regulated yet innovative financial jurisdictions.
Reece Merrick, Ripple’s Managing Director for the Middle East and Africa, noted that the agreement reflects the company’s commitment to contributing to the development of Saudi Arabia’s modern financial architecture and to improving the efficiency of key processes, including international payments, in line with Vision 2030 goals. A real estate tokenization project was recently launched under the program, opening access to premium assets with a low entry threshold.
