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Saudi’s central bank says it’s working to get domestic banks on board with Ripple’s suite of cross-border payment solutions.

Saudi Arabia Monetary Authority’s (SAMA) head of innovation Mohsen Al Zahrani says it chose to work with Ripple because the company has a very focused use case. To start, the companies will utilize Ripple’s xCurrent technology.

“SAMA is leading the program. We are expediting it. Also, we do the training for all the banks – deep dive training on the blockchain and Ripple technology. And the banks themselves started the implementation of the technology based on different use cases that we’ve discussed in the program.

The banks started using this technology on production. We had one bank who went live on production using Ripple’s xCurrent. Another is going pretty soon. We have two more banks going soon this quarter of 2019.”

The Middle East is one of Ripple’s prime targets for adoption.

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Ripple’s global head of infrastructure innovation Dilip Rao says SAMA’s involvement is part of a wave of recognition that blockchain technology is the future.

“Central banks around the world are leaning into blockchain technology in recognition of how it can transform cross-border payments, resulting in lower barriers to trade and commerce for both corporates and consumers.

SAMA is leading the charge as the first central bank to provide resources to domestic banks that want to enable instant payments using Ripple’s innovative blockchain solution.”

SAMA first partnered with Ripple in February of last year. In October, Ripple revealed plans to open a new office in Dubai.