Central Bank of Bahrain completes JP Morgan CBDC test

Central Bank of Bahrain’s (CBB) has successfully completed its CBDC test with Onyx by J.P. Morgan’s JPM Coin System. This is a first of its kind test of JPM Coin System in the region. Prior to this Central Bank of Bahrain had agreed to take on the CBDC project in May of 2021

The test enabled Bank ABC to initiate real-time payments for Aluminium Bahrain (ALBA) to benefit ALBA’s counterparties in the United States, leveraging JPM Coin System, a permissioned system that serves as a payment rail and deposit account ledger, enabling participating entities to transfer US Dollars held on deposit with J.P. Morgan. The promising outcome of the test, overseen by the Central Bank of Bahrain, signifies the Kingdom’s commitment to a significant uplift of its financial technology apparatus in the endeavor to deliver the highest quality of services and the best customer experience to continue leading the Financial Technology transformational journey in the region.

On this occasion, His Excellency the Governor of the Central Bank of Bahrain, Rasheed Al Maraj, said: “We at the Central Bank of Bahrain are extremely pleased to announce the success of this test which aligns with our vision and strategy to continually develop and enrich the capabilities extended to the stakeholders within our financial services sector in the Kingdom using advanced and leading emerging technologies. Through our work with ALBA, Bank ABC and Onyx by J.P. Morgan, we aspire to address and eliminate the inefficiencies and pain-points which exist today in the traditional cross-border payments arena.”

The CEO of ALBA, Ali Al-Baqali said “We at ALBA are very happy to have participated in and contributed towards a successful test of this cutting-edge technology, which we’re certain will optimize our cash management activities. ALBA has been at the forefront of leveraging new innovative, secure and reliable financial solutions that bring speed, seamless efficiencies into our financial operations. We’re also proud to be part of such a flagship initiative in the Kingdom of Bahrain and work with close and strong banking partners under the sponsorship of the Central Bank of Bahrain.”

Sael Al Waary, Deputy Group CEO of Bank ABC commented, “We are very excited to have achieved this landmark milestone in collaboration with the CBB, ALBA and Onyx by J.P. Morgan. As part of our mission to create the ‘bank of the future’, we have been able to leverage the digital banking capabilities of Bank ABC, to facilitate seamless cross-border payments using our APIs together with JP Morgan’s blockchain network. The pilot was tested using US dollars, and this technology will allow us to scale-up our existing offering and introduce more currencies in the future. We envisage major changes across the world with digital currencies, which will play a critical role in enabling future digital economies. We remain steadfast in our role as a key contributor in supporting Bahrain’s ambition to lead innovation within the financial technology arena in the region.”

Ali Moosa, Vice Chairman and Senior Country Officer, J.P. Morgan Bahrain added saying “Onyx by J.P. Morgan is committed to leading the buildout of next generation clearing and settlement infrastructures and we are delighted to work with a leading central bank like CBB and an innovation-focused institution in Bank ABC to lead this project in the region. The completed test with ALBA and Bank ABC will help inform further development of JPM Coin Systems for future use by our correspondent banking partners.”