On 27 December 2018, The National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) has reportedly become the first local financial establishment to launch a remittance product based on RippleNet’s blockchain technology called ‘NBK Direct Remit’, targeted to be used for international live payments and speed up cross-border money transfers.

The service is currently available in Jordan and will reportedly expand to other countries in the future. The NBK is charging 1 Kuwaiti dinars (approx. $3.30) per transactions for Jordan if the funds are transferred to its local branch. A charge of 5 KWD (approx. $16.50) will be applied for transactions that involve other banks. There is also a limit of 2,000 KWD (approx. $6,580) to these transactions.

Dimitrios Kokosioulis, who is the deputy CEO of group operations and technology, commented that the blockchain-based remittance service provides the possibility for customers to make money transfers in an extremely short amount of time and whenever they want.

It is worth noting that RippleNet provides its blockchain payment services to multiple financial firms and institutions in the world including Malaysian CIMB Group Holdings Bhd. The company, similar to NBK, utilised the blockchain technology to improve cross-border payments through its ‘SpeedSend’ remittance product.

Other institutions that partner with RippleNet are Japanese banking firm Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, South Korean crypto exchange Coinone, remittance firm UAE Exchange and U.S. financial institution PNC.

Multiple establishments have been utilising blockchain for remittances services as the market has proved to be a significant one. According to data from the World Bank, in 2017 alone a total of $53 billion has been transferred to the Middle East and North Africa by migrants. Companies that create means to transfer money quickly and efficiently for these users would ultimately gain more from the market, and usually blockchain is the answer they seek in the end.

Social media giant Facebook is also reportedly researching a stablecoin for it Whatsapp users, mainly targeting the Indian remittances market. The company has hired around 40 talents to form a group specifically for the project.