Emirates NBD has gone live on Partior, a distributed ledger-based clearing and settlement network for cross-border payments, becoming the first bank from the Middle East, North Africa and Turkey region to connect to the platform.
The launch marks the first operational phase of the bank’s participation in Partior and starts with a narrower scope than earlier collaboration plans suggested.
Partior rollout begins with USD
In its initial live setup, Emirates NBD is participating on the network in US dollars. For the first transaction, JPMorgan acted as both the settlement bank and the beneficiary bank.
At the outset, Emirates NBD will support cross-border payments for corporate and institutional clients where the beneficiary account is held at JPMorgan. The bank said it intends to expand from this starting point by adding payments to other banks on the Partior network and by extending the range of supported currencies over time.
Earlier plans were broader
The go-live follows earlier work between the two companies that was disclosed in November 2024. At that stage, the plan was for Emirates NBD to become a network settlement bank for three currencies: the UAE dirham, the Saudi riyal and the Indian rupee.
The current launch does not yet include that role. Instead, the first phase positions Emirates NBD as a USD participant on the network, indicating a more limited initial deployment while leaving room for future expansion.
How Partior is positioned
Partior is designed as a blockchain-based network for clearing and settling cross-border payments. It predates the BIS-led Project Agora and shares a similar goal of using distributed ledger technology to improve correspondent banking processes.
However, the model described in the source differs from approaches based on wholesale central bank digital currency, because it does not involve interbank settlement in wholesale CBDC.
The network’s backers include DBS, Deutsche Bank, JPMorgan, Standard Chartered and Temasek.
Regional significance
For Emirates NBD, the connection gives the bank an operational foothold in a cross-border payments network built around distributed ledger infrastructure. For Partior, the launch adds its first live bank participant from the MENAT region.
The immediate use case remains focused: corporate and institutional payment flows in dollars to beneficiary accounts at JPMorgan. Even so, the bank has indicated that this is only the first stage, with further banks and currencies expected to be added later if implementation continues as planned.
The development reflects a gradual pattern seen in cross-border payments projects using distributed ledger technology: banks often begin with a tightly defined corridor, currency or counterparty setup before broadening live usage.
Source: www.ledgerinsights.com