UAE’s Maryah Bank Partners Ripple ODL For Cross-Border Transactions

LuLu Financial Group has been selected as Al Maryah Bank’s Ripple On-Demand Liquidity (ODL) partner in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in a calculated move to improve cross-border payment solutions and spur innovation in the financial sector.

With this partnership, Al Maryah Bank and LuLu Financial Group—through its Mbank subsidiary—hope to further establish the United Arab Emirates as a center for financial technology and digital economy endeavors by facilitating real-time transcontinental transfers. LuLu Financial Group, in partnership with Mbank, intends to enable smooth and fast cross-border payments via the Mbank Wallet app and Mbank UAE, utilizing Ripple’s ODL technology.

By using digital assets like XRP as a bridge currency, Ripple’s ODL technology aims to offer a more effective and affordable alternative for cross-border payments. Compared to conventional cross-border payment systems, this novel solution offers considerable improvement by speeding up settlement times and lowering transaction costs.

Adeeb Ahamed, LuLu Financial Holdings  Managing Director, in a statement, said that the integration of Ripple ODL plays a big role in augmenting its fund management capacity while sticking to present regulatory guidelines. Mbank’s Head of SME coverage, Saeed Mohamed Al Khoori, in a recent statement, highlighted the need for the recent collaboration with LuLu Exchange in pushing the company’s banking perspective.

LuLu Financial Group CEO States The Advantages Of The Partnership

Comments from industry expert Abdulkarim Abdulwahab, as published on The Crypto Basic platform, say that the selection of Ripple’s ODL for this partnership is indicative of the increasing awareness of digital assets and blockchain-based technologies as ways to expedite international transactions.

Abdulwahab also revealed that this collaboration fits with the UAE’s ambition for a digital economy, which has been actively pursuing projects to position itself as a leader in financial technology and digital transformation. The CEO of LuLu Financial Group, Richard Wason, gave his thoughts on the alliance’s importance. Wason had remaked that this collaboration will give birth to huge public payment infrastructure in subsequent time.

The United Arab Emirates has been aggressively cultivating an atmosphere that supports financial technology and digital innovation. The country is promoting itself as a regional and international hub for fintech solutions, with an emphasis on advancing digital currencies and blockchain technology.

Mbank’s Head, SME Coverage Comments, Promises Better Financial Services Performance

The Managing Director of LuLu Financial Holdings, Adeeb Ahamed, disclosed that Ripple’s ODL facility played a pivotal role in enhancing its fund management capabilities within the Asia–Pacific (APAC) region, all while adhering to the established regulatory guidelines. He added that as a mainstream bank, their partnership with LuLu Financial Group had provided the opportunity for the company to spread its financial branches around the world.

Koori also explained that the international market is its major target, while cross-border transfers through the LuLu Exchange channel are the goal. Recall that in 2018, the UAE Exchange, one of the largest money transfer entities and popular payment brands in the country, partnered with Ripple to build its fast, real-time international payment system.

The report has it that this collaboration made UAE Exchange one of the leading payment providers in the Middle East – and has built a reputation in the use of blockchain-induced payment technology. However, LuLu Financial Holdings had last year, in Ripple Inc.’s yearly Swell Conference emerged as the winner of the yearly Blockchain Innovation Awards, the Network Accelerator section.