Jeel, a subsidiary of Riyad Bank, has entered into a strategic agreement with Ripple to build blockchain-based financial infrastructure that enhances payments and tokenization across Saudi Arabia, aiming to improve speed, transparency, and cost-efficiency while aligning with national innovation goals.
Jeel signed a partnership with Ripple to support Saudi Arabia’s digital finance objectives through advanced blockchain integration and testing. This agreement will focus on creating secure, transparent infrastructure that boosts financial services across the Middle East and beyond.
The firms aim to improve cross-border payments by making them faster, more cost-effective, and more transparent for financial institutions. Both entities will jointly develop and test blockchain solutions using Jeel’s regulatory sandbox for compliant experimentation.
“This partnership with Ripple reflects our strategy of using the Jeel Sandbox to responsibly explore next-generation financial infrastructure,” said George Harrak, CEO of Jeel. He added that the effort combines regulated testing with global blockchain expertise for scalable use cases in cross-border payments and digital assets.
Jeel will examine how blockchain corridors can enhance remittance and trade flow while strengthening custody frameworks and improving payment efficiency. This approach supports the Kingdom’s broader plan to build resilient and future-ready financial services infrastructure.
Jeel’s regulatory sandbox will allow Ripple to trial solutions under local compliance conditions while evaluating real-world implementation. These trials will help identify blockchain models that can scale across financial networks in the Gulf region.
Ripple will also work with Jeel to explore use cases in tokenization and custody of digital assets across Saudi Arabia’s markets. The partnership allows Ripple to test how blockchain supports storage and representation of real-world assets.
The firms plan to develop proofs-of-concept within the Jeel Sandbox to ensure compliance with regulatory frameworks. These efforts are designed to inform future custody mechanisms and tokenization models in financial ecosystems.
Jeel intends to expand its capabilities beyond fintech acceleration by moving into real-world blockchain innovation projects. Ripple’s involvement provides Jeel access to blockchain specialists and global digital asset infrastructure knowledge.
He also emphasized the importance of Saudi Arabia’s leadership in digital transformation across the financial sector.
Jeel will assess how to tokenize traditional financial products and digitize physical assets on blockchain platforms under secure conditions. These frameworks will support new business models for banks and institutions operating in the Kingdom.
Ripple benefits from the agreement by gaining access to Saudi Arabia’s rapidly evolving fintech landscape and institutional innovation hubs. Through Jeel, Ripple can align with Riyad Bank’s broader ambitions in digital financial services.
Jeel positions itself as a pioneer in regulated blockchain testing and product development under national transformation goals. Its sandbox offers Ripple a pathway to deploy its solutions under controlled, compliant conditions.
Ripple will also use the collaboration to assess interoperability between its network and local banking infrastructure. The company aims to support cross-border corridors that improve end-user experiences in international remittance services.
The partnership supports Jeel’s role in building modern financial infrastructure that meets the demands of institutions and regulators. Ripple’s involvement enhances technical capabilities available to Saudi institutions exploring blockchain. Jeel and Ripple will continue their collaboration under regulatory oversight while testing digital asset solutions aligned with Saudi Arabia’s long-term strategy.
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