Ripple, the RLUSD stablecoin issuer, has signed a memorandum of understanding with Riyadh Bank’s innovation subsidiary to explore blockchain applications within the Kingdom’s financial infrastructure.
We are committed to demonstrating how Ripple’s enterprise-grade digital asset technology can unlock efficiencies in areas such as cross-border payments and supporting Saudi Arabia’s ambitions to build a world-leading and competitive fintech ecosystem.
Reese Merrick is Ripple’s Managing Director for the Middle East and Africa.
Ripple and Zeal are collaborating to develop distributed ledger use cases and test how blockchain systems can be incorporated into Saudi Arabia’s financial architecture.
Riyadh Bank’s Zeal leverages Ripple for payments, custody and tokenization
Ripple and Zeal are planning some developments financial technology Agreement-based applications such as cross-border payments and storage of digital assets. For financial institutions in the Gulf region, blockchain systems are fast and transparent, making them viable for cross-border payments.
More big news from the Middle East! @Ripple partners with @Jeelmovement, the innovation arm of @RiyadBank, to advance Saudi Arabia’s financial future through blockchain innovation 🇸🇦
Saudi Arabia’s visionary leadership has established Saudi Arabia as a developed country… pic.twitter.com/KhQ7giluhE
— Reece Merrick (@reece_merrick) January 26, 2026
Tokenization efforts could also be part of the exploratory work, as the movement to convert traditional assets into digital representations gains traction in financial centers around the world. Saudi policymakers have added financial innovation to the pillars of their Vision 2030 agenda. This includes open banking, digital payments, blockchain, and AI-powered financial services.
Jeel, the innovation and technology arm of Riyadh Bank, was founded to deliver on 70 years of digital initiatives and financial technology partnerships. In September, the company partnered with a Saudi fintech company to launch a digital innovation program.
This collaboration led to the launch of Jeel Sandbox, a technology platform for the Saudi fintech community that supports development, testing, and licensing processes. This will allow financial technology companies to experiment with digital asset trading services in line with the monarch’s regulatory scope.
Supporting Vision 2030 through technology development and partnerships with local leaders shows how passionate Mambu is about advancing local goals. We look forward to working with Jeel to support financial institutions in their early stages of growth.
Harjit Khan, Manbu regional leader.
Jeel has also partnered with Mambu, a cloud-native core banking technology provider that provides a modular banking architecture that underpins the platform’s technology layer. This sandbox is hosted on the Google Cloud platform and allows developers to deploy simulated interfaces of wallet services to the Banking-as-a-Service platform.
Cloud Zone Center accelerates Saudi digital infrastructure advancement
According to a report in local news publication AGBI, Saudi Arabia also launch A cloud computing special economic zone near Riyadh. The initiative is expected to take effect from early April 2026 and will also include tax and regulatory incentives for investors.
The policy targets cloud providers and data center operators with the energy demands of digital infrastructure projects as well as high setup costs. Companies in the cloud zone are subject to corporate tax, but unlike in other Saudi economies, zakat rules do not apply.
For the country’s technology community, this is a strong signal that Saudi Arabia wants to accelerate cloud adoption and expand local digital infrastructure. In practice, this should make it easier for local cloud and digital infrastructure companies to build, partner with, and grow larger cloud ecosystems.
Let’s say Arcel becomes the manager and Alvarez and Maral are appointed.
The zone’s regulatory framework will come into legal force from early April 2026, following publication in the Official Gazette on 16 January. Licensed companies will have an additional 90 days to comply with the requirements.
Alyusev said he expects the time to take hold will be shorter as administrative procedures evolve, but guidance on tax relief and eligibility conditions is pending.
Meanwhile, Fitch Ratings said the Saudi debt capital market could reach $600 billion outstanding by the end of 2026. Saudi debt outstanding will exceed $520 billion in 2025, an increase of 21% from the previous year, with sukuk financial instruments accounting for 62% of the total.
“Nearly all of the Fitch-rated Saudi Sukuk are investment grade, the issuers have a stable outlook, and there are no defaults. Post-reform, foreign investors now contribute more than 10% of the government’s direct domestic issuance outstanding in key domestic markets at the end of 2025,” Bashar Al-Nator, head of Fitch Ratings Islamic Finance, told reporters today.
