Emirates NBD is the first bank in the Middle East, North Africa and Türkiye to run real-time, blockchain-based cross-border payments on the Partior network. The October 2024 partnership is now in live production.
The launch follows a live USD transaction with J.P. Morgan as both settlement and beneficiary bank. Emirates NBD’s corporate and institutional clients can now send real-time USD payments to accounts held at J.P. Morgan, cutting settlement times and giving treasurers clearer visibility on payment status.
This is phase one. The bank plans to add more currencies, settlement corridors and participating banks as the network scales, and says the next step is programmable liquidity management and shorter turnaround times for clients.
Anith Daniel, Group Head of Transaction Banking Services at Emirates NBD, said: “As the needs of our corporate and institutional clients evolve, we continue to deliver innovative solutions that create value for their businesses. Moving from partnership to live execution on the Partior network enables us to offer faster USD settlement for J.P. Morgan beneficiaries, supporting more efficient treasury operations for our clients. This launch reflects our ability to deploy payment solutions that are secure, scalable and proven in live cross-border execution with global counterparties.”
The go-live builds on Emirates NBD’s partnership and investment in Partior, the settlement network founded by DBS, J.P. Morgan and Temasek. Banks worldwide are moving to blockchain settlement rails to cut friction in cross-border flows.
Humphrey Valenbreder, Chief Executive Officer at Partior, said: “We are combining Emirates NBD’s regional strength with our blockchain-based clearing and settlement infrastructure to support more efficient global payments. This gives institutions greater speed and transparency in how transactions are processed. The focus now is on expanding participation across currencies and markets as more banks connect and transact on the network.”