The National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD) has announced that it has become the first bank in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region to introduce real-time cross border payments on blockchain technology.

According to the 2016 World Bank migration and remittances factbook, the UAE is ranked as the fourth top remittance-sending country in the world, accounting for more than $19 billion (Dh70 billion).

Powered by Ripple’s blockchain technology, NBAD said that the new channel aims to facilitate regional customers with simple, real time and secure way to process their cross border payments within its network. The bank explained that Ripple’s Distributed Financial Technology fits within its existing infrastructure and offers a secure end-to-end payment flow providing transaction immutability and payment integrity.

“At NBAD we strive to ensure our offerings are efficient and transparent. Blockchain technology transforms and paves a new way in achieving our goals and better serve our customers, adding value through accessibility and transparency. As an initial adopter and first bank to go live on Ripple, NBAD offers innovative solutions to our clients payments needs”, Ramana Kumar, Managing Director & Head of GTB Business and Product Management, said.

With this, NBAD joins a growing list of premium companies and institutions around the world that are leveraging Ripple’s technology, including Santander, Standard Chartered, and UniCredit. With Ripple connectivity, NBAD aims to improve the existing cross border payments system by offering clear costs, improved delivery time and visibility into the transaction process – ultimately reducing the investment and resources required by its customers to send payments.

“Banks and their customers have been hearing about the promise of blockchain technology to enable real-time cross-border payments. Now, some of the most innovative and successful banks like NBAD are making this a reality by offering Ripple-enabled payments to their entire customer base, and in doing so, paving the way to make 2017 the year we see broad commercialization of blockchain take hold globally”, Brad Garlinghouse, CEO of Ripple, added.