Arab Jordan Investment Bank goes Live with Blockchain platform

In a recent interview in Buzinesstransform Ayman Qadoumi, Assitant Deputy General Manager IT and IS, at Arab Jordan Investment Bank talked about their Blockchain project with Oracle for transfer of funds. The Arab Jordan Investment Bank, AJIB, provides retail, corporate, and investment banking services across Jordan, Cyprus, and Qatar. A key expectation of its customers was the ease and efficiency of transfer of funds between the three countries including Jordan, Cyprus, and Qatar.

According to the article, Arab Jordan Investment Bank has now adopted the Oracle Blockchain Platform. The project is the largest blockchain deployment in the Middle East. “We have a competitive edge in the market and we are the first ones to go live with this technology,” says Ayman Qadoumi, Assistant Deputy General Manager IT and IS, Arab Jordan Investment Bank. The project is now live, and the deployed Oracle Blockchain platform has resulted in cost savings, and real time cross border transactions for transactions between bank's own branches.

Arab Jordan Investment Bank is using Oracle blockchain technology to transfer funds between these markets. “It is the first implementation in Jordan and a model for the rest of the region,” continues Qadoumi. The successful deployment of Oracle Blockchain Platform is the beginning of a new journey for Arab Jordan Investment Bank.

Sharing this type of customer information with external third parties, involved compliance with mandatory regulatory requirements. Arab Jordan Investment Bank aimed at reducing the costs and the time required for cross-border payments, while making the entire process more secure and efficient.

The purpose of adopting the Oracle blockchain platform was to automate the processes, eliminating human involvement. This was one of the business challenges that the bank faced. When Arab Jordan Investment Bank started speaking to the Central Bank of Jordan and Cyprus – their main concerns were the anti-money laundering requirements. It was up to Arab Jordan Investment Bank to integrate and find a way to meet all the compliance requirements.

Arab Jordan Investment Bank integrated anti-money laundering from ICS and the Oracle Blockchain Platform to meet these requirements. The connecter is like the middleware between banking service and the blockchain service.

Oracle Cloud provides the Blockchain Platform, while the clients are using online banking. Through their online banking, there is a service where customers can use the Oracle Blockchain Platform. “So, we have an indication layer that communicates the software to the blockchain technology. We have an API that integrates the data transfer from the Arab Jordan Investment Bank banking solution to the Oracle Blockchain Platform. Blockchain technology is more secure than other technologies because of its nature. It is a private network service in the cloud and it is based on volume of transfer,” adds Qadoumi.

The blockchain service is only being used between Arab Jordan Investment Bank and its subsidiaries and the token cannot be used for any external bank or branch. When the customer is using the system, they receive a confirmation to ensure security and accuracy. Arab Jordan Investment Bank is guiding other banks on how to use this technology.

With Oracle Blockchain, Arab Jordan Investment Bank is now able to make the same transfers in real-time without paying the transactions fees for each transaction to third party intermediaries. Senders and receivers can now track money transfers while the funds are in transit, providing transparency to both parties about the exact timing and amount of the transfer.