QNB, Ripple Partner on Cross-Border Payments

Qatar National Bank (QNB) has unveiled its global cross-border payment strategy, which is happening through a partnership with the blockchain solutions provider Ripple.

As the Gulf Times reported on Monday (Oct. 4), the partnership will see QNB pilot Ripple’s financial technology network, RippleNet, with QNB Finansbank in Turkey in a group rollout, with plans to eventually expand into other corridors.

“QNB always innovates to provide the best of service to its customers, and this partnership is yet another FinTech initiative of the bank to enhance the product offerings for our customers,” said Heba al-Tamimi, general manager for group retail banking at QNB.

Added Navin Gupta, managing director (South Asia & Mena) at Ripple: “We are excited to be a strategic partner with QNB, bringing together innovations in banking and FinTech to enhance the cross-border payments experience, and ultimately scale QNB’s remittance service on RippleNet into additional markets.”

Read more: Singapore, Malaysia to Test Cross-Border Payments

The announcement comes just days after the central banks of Singapore and Malaysia revealed their customers will be able to conduct real-time cross-border payment transfers via a mobile number starting in the first quarter of 2022.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) announced the project last week, calling it a “phased linkage” of the payment systems operated by PayNow in Singapore and Malaysia’s DuitNow.

Learn more: Cambodia Partners With Malaysia for Cross-Border Digital Money Transfers

This year has also seen Cambodia’s central bank and Maybank of Malaysia work together on digital cross-border money transfers, with The National Bank of Cambodia and Maybank facilitating transfers via the banks’ e-wallets, Bakong and the MAE app.

To bring things full circle, 2021 began with Ripple announcing it had entered into an arrangement under which the Malaysian mobile wallet provider Mobile Money and bKash, a provider of mobile financial services to more than 45 million people in Bangladesh, will conduct transactions using the RippleNet network.