Saudi British Bank joins R3 blockchain initiative

The Saudi British Bank (SABB) has become the first Saudibank to join enterprise software firm and banking consortium R3’s blockchain ecosystem.

David Dew, Managing Director of SABB, says: “We are extremely pleased to join R3 which puts us at the cutting edge of financial innovation, giving our clients all the far-reaching advantages of transaction-speed and security that flow from the DLT based solutions”

David E Rutter, CEO of R3, comments: “As one of the leading international banks in the Kingdom, SABB’s experience will be invaluable to R3. Using our Corda platform, SABB will be able to actively participate and work towards development of solutions based on blockchain to meet the growing needs of its customers.”

Meanwhile, over in Thailand…

Last month, Coin Rivet reported that the Bank of Thailand plans to develop a proof-of-concept prototype digital currency using Corda.

The central bank is designing a wholesale Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), which can be used for wholesale funds transfers, in partnership with eight other Asian banks. The project, called Inthanon, aims to enhance the efficiency of Thailand’s financial market infrastructure.

“This is in line with similar projects embarked upon by other central banks such as the Bank of Canada, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority and the Monetary Authority of Singapore,” the Bank of Thailand said.

Phase one of Project Inthanon, expected to be completed by the first quarter of 2019, will involve the participating banks designing, developing and testing the proof-of-concept prototype. Key payment functionalities such as a liquidity saving mechanism and risk management will also be developed and tested.

Once the project summary is published, the participants aim to further develop the capabilities of the prototype for broader functions, including third party fund transfers and cross-border fund transfers.