Jeel and Ripple Partner to Bring Blockchain Innovation to Financial Services in Saudi Arabia

Jeel, the innovation and technology arm of Riyad Bank, has partnered with Ripple, a financial technology company that offers crypto solutions for businesses, to explore advanced applications of blockchain in developing secure, efficient, and transparent financial services across the Kingdom.

The partnership aims to assess how blockchain can significantly improve the speed, cost efficiency, and transparency of cross-border payments, while also exploring potential use cases for use cases for digital asset custody and tokenization. This direction strongly supports Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 agenda, which prioritizes digital transformation and the growth of a competitive fintech ecosystem.

Under this collaboration, Jeel and Ripple will work together to examine how blockchain-enabled payments corridors can enhance international remittance experiences. They will also evaluate future-ready frameworks for digital asset custody, ensuring they meet both regulatory and operational standards. In addition, the companies will jointly develop proofs-of-concept within Jeel’s regulatory sandbox to test Ripple’s technologies in a controlled, compliant environment. These efforts are expected to contribute to the Kingdom’s fintech sector by demonstrating scalable and interoperable digital financial infrastructure. 

“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. “By combining regulated experimentation with global blockchain expertise, we are building the foundations to evaluate scalable use cases that enhance cross-border payments and digital asset capabilities in line with the Kingdom’s long-term digital ambitions.”

This partnership delivers strategic value to both parties. For Jeel, it strengthens its position as a pioneer in regulated blockchain experimentation and expands its innovation capabilities beyond traditional fintech acceleration. It also integrates new blockchain-driven concepts into Jeel’s broader technology blueprint while supporting Riyad Bank’s ambitions to evaluate next-generation digital financial services. 

“Saudi Arabia’s visionary leadership has established the Kingdom as a forward-thinking global hub for digital transformation,” said Reece Merrick, Managing Director, Middle East and Africa at Ripple. “It is against this progressive backdrop that Ripple has signed an MOU with Jeel to explore integrating secure, efficient blockchain solutions into the national financial architecture. We are committed to demonstrating how Ripple’s enterprise-grade digital assets technology can unlock significant efficiencies in areas like cross-border payments, aligning directly with Saudi Arabia’s goal of building a world-leading, competitive fintech ecosystem.”

Ripple will gain strategic access to Saudi Arabia’s fast-growing fintech landscape through Jeel’s sandbox and institutional network. It also offers Ripple the ability to showcase its enterprise-grade blockchain infrastructure in a highly regulated and innovation-driven environment.