Bank ABC launches blockchain payments with J.P. Morgan

The new service is in partnership with the Central Bank of Bahrain

Bank ABC has introduced J.P. Morgan’s Coin Systems, a blockchain-based platform, that serves as a payment rail and deposit account ledger.  

The service will allow instant cross-border commercial transactions between Bahrain and the US. 

The Coin Systems sits within Onyx, J.P. Morgan’s blockchain platform to exchange digital assets.  

The new service, a collaboration between Bank ABC and the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB), will provide support to scale blockchain-based solutions within Bahrain’s payments landscape.  

The Coin Systems seeks to address the complex challenges of cross-border payments, to simplify client’s liquidity needs, and offer corporate treasury services. 

The service has been launched in USD, in Bahrain, US, UK, Singapore and Hong Kong. Other locations and currencies, like the Euro, are in the pipeline. 

Rasheed AlMaraj, the Governor of the CBB, said: “After working with J.P. Morgan and Bank ABC over the past two years to experiment the execution of cross-border commercial transactions, we are pleased to witness the soft launch of this banking solution by a Bahraini-based bank.   

“This initiative aligns with the CBB’s strategic vision to embrace innovation and digitalise the Kingdom’s financial services sector by eliminating inefficiencies that exist in traditional cross-border payment railways, facilitating trade between Bahrain and the U.S., and thereby inducing economic activity.  

Sael Al Waary, Bank ABC Group chief executive officer, added: “Offering high-value cross-border payments via the J.P. Morgan Coin Systems service, allows us to reduce traditional settlement periods considerably as well as being more cost-effective for our clients.  

“We remain steadfast as a key enabler of Bahrain’s vision for a digital economy.” 

Image: © Kentoh via Canva

Josh Poyser Josh Poyser is an editor at FinTech Intel. He has written about fintech for several years and appeared at FinTech Connect 2023 on the 'Unlocking Success: The Art of Fintech PR' panel.